


The Prophecy

by Mondhase



Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-05-11 04:36:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 87,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5614141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mondhase/pseuds/Mondhase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris is slowly getting closer to the Halliwells although they still don't know he's family. He's struggling with his memories of the future, when a prophecy of the seer is suddenly about to turn his world upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after 6x12 “Prince Charmed”, so the sisters know that Wyatt will become evil in the future, but they don’t know who Chris really is.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Paige flinched unconsciously, hearing the reproachful voice behind her. She was nearly at the bottom of the stairs in the manor’s foyer, when a certain whitelighter stopped her.

“Chris, listen. It’s Saturday evening and I’ve got a date for which I’m already late. So if you don’t mind, I’m going now.”

“And if I do mind?”

Paige looked up at the dark haired young man, who was watching her from the landing, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Her left hand stemmed into her hip, her right index finger against her lips, she seemed to be contemplating his question for a few seconds, only to reply with a playful smile,

“Well, in that case… I’ll still go.”

When the youngest of the Charmed Ones turned around and headed towards the front door, she could hear how Chris hurried down the stairs behind her to catch up with her.

“Paige, the demons don’t care if it’s Saturday evening or not. We’ve already been attacked once today, they could come back.”

“But Piper blew them up, didn’t she?” Paige had reached the door by now and was rolling her eyes when she turned around to her whitelighter.

“Just two of them,” the young man protested immediately. “There’s still a chance that the third could try it again.” Chris was desperate. Why was it that nobody ever took his warnings seriously? He was only here in this time to stop his brother Wyatt from turning evil. Well, not that anyone knew about that; at least not the part with the brother.

He had already managed to break the news of Wyatt’s future as a tyrant and murderer to Piper and Leo, but the fact that he himself was their son, too, would remain his secret for the time being.

Not that they would believe him, anyway, as he knew that especially Leo still doubted him. Plus, even if his mother and aunts didn’t think he was evil or some kind of threat, the young man didn’t have the feeling that they particularly liked or at least supported him.

“Oh, calm down Chris, will you? Nothing is going to happen. Piper is here keeping an eye on Wyatt and you’re here, too, aren’t you? And if you really need me, you can call me. Like a whitelighter, I mean. I’ve practised with Phoebe and although I’m not as good as you or Leo yet, if you call me loudly enough, I’ll hear you and come immediately. Satisfied?”

Paige could clearly see that he was _not_ satisfied, but it would have to make do. She was very proud of finally having improved her whitelighter powers, but Chris did not seem to have paid very much attention to that part of her explanations.

“Alright, fine. But don’t stay out too long.”

“Ok, _mum_!” Paige, who was already out of the door, waved goodbye to him over her shoulder, then got into her car and drove off for her date with Richard. Of course, she could easily have orbed there, but since he was trying to live without magic, she too did her best to go without it whenever they met.

Shaking his head, Chris closed the front door and went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. He could only hope that the sisters would soon start to acknowledge his authority as their whitelighter, or would at least heed his warnings more often. At times he wanted nothing more than to tell them the whole truth. About him, about Wyatt, about the future. Everything that had went wrong in his time and all the crimes his oh-so-wonderful brother had committed.

But he had no idea what had caused Wyatt’s change or how much he could alter the future without making everything worse. Once it had even crossed his mind that he could be the one responsible for everything.

If he told the witches now about Wyatt’s crimes and cruelties, resulting in them unconsciously keeping the boy at a distance, couldn’t that turn out to be the reason why he had turned his back on them and everything the Charmed Ones had always stood for?

Chris’ head hurt just thinking about the possible implications of his time travel. He was only 22 years old and although he had seen quite a lot in his life, he felt that nothing could ever have prepared him for this. Phoebe’s and Paige’s constant encouragements to relax and take things more easily seemed almost ridiculous in light of what was at stake. Although of course he couldn’t expect them to understand. They had no idea what he had been through and if he did things right, they never would.

 

* * *

 

Chris had been standing in the half-dark for quite a while now, absentmindedly scanning the contents of the fridge, so he was rather surprised when the light in the kitchen was suddenly turned on. As if caught doing something forbidden, he instantly closed the door and spun around to come face to face with the oldest of the Charmed Ones.

“Hey, Chris.”

Whether it was because of the familiarity of the situation, or simply fatigue, Chris wasn’t sure, but for some reason, images of his childhood suddenly appeared before his eyes without him being able to stop it. He could see his mother, who had caught him literally with his hand in the cookie jar, although dinner was almost ready, standing exactly where Piper now stood, looking at him reproachfully. She had always pretended to be offended in moments like that, because he obviously hadn’t appreciated her cooking skills.

“Hi… Piper.” It had taken all of Chris’ self-control not to call her ‘mum’ and to just collapse into her arms, although that was really all he wanted to do right now. But he would not spill his secret. That would make things far too complicated.

“Did you just have to think to remember my name?” Piper replied half jokingly as she came further into the room and made her way past Chris to have a look into the fridge herself. As she was busy studying its content, she didn’t see the longing expression that passed over her whitelighter’s face for a moment.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just a little tired.”

Obviously satisfied with this answer, Piper nodded shortly while she started to carry several items from the fridge onto the kitchen table.

“I know, at the moment it’s just the two of us and Wyatt, but I’m really in the mood for cooking, so why don’t you keep me some company and maybe lend me a hand?” Piper looked at the young man questioningly, already fully expecting him to turn her invitation down. As long as there was no demon hunting involved, their new whitelighter never seemed to be very sociable, especially in regards to her. He had been with them for the past few months, but Piper barely knew anything about him, except that he was from the future and didn’t talk a lot.

“Yeah, sure. Why not.”

Clearly startled by this answer, Piper raised her eyebrows as she kept looking at Chris, having the very strong impression that he was no less surprised than she was by his reply. However, she was actually really glad about it and figured that maybe this was an opportunity to finally break the ice between them. Because she couldn’t shake the feeling that Chris was sometimes trying to avoid her or was at least often uncomfortable to be alone in a room with her. She had no idea if maybe he hadn’t liked her in the future, but the witch decided that if that was the case, she would use this time to improve the negative opinion Chris apparently had of her.

 

* * *

 

“Should I get you something from the kitchen?”

“No, thanks, I got everything I need.”

Smiling, Piper shook her head in disbelief at herself as she went into the kitchen to get another bottle of coke. Just how had Chris managed to make her agree to dinner in front of the TV? Usually that was completely out of the question for her, but despite of that, she and her whitelighter had settled down on the couch, were having chips and coke for dessert, while watching the umpteenth rerun of ‘The Firm’ on TV.

The young man was suddenly displaying completely new sides to him, the existence of which Piper had never even thought possible before. She was just hoping that he wouldn’t revert back to his usual withdrawn self after tonight, because she feared his morosity could be his downfall one day.

It was as if he was forgetting he wasn’t alone in this. She, her sisters and Leo would never allow anything to happen to Wyatt, but it was no use to drive oneself crazy about it all the time. More than once she had witnessed how an inner turmoil could affect one’s powers and in an emergency that could prove to be the greatest danger of all. She was not going to risk that.

Trying to get rid of these negative thoughts at least for the moment, Piper shook her head resolutely. She didn’t want to spoil this evening; not if everything was actually peaceful for once.

After she had sufficiently equipped herself for the rest of the movie, Piper headed back to the living room, but stopped when she passed Wyatt’s playpen to look at her sleeping son for a moment. Chris, still being anxious about today’s demon attack, had insisted not to leave the boy unattended in his room for so long, and so Wyatt was now lying on a stack of blankets and pillows and was sleeping peacefully.

Piper couldn’t help but smile as she thought about how awkward Chris sometimes seemed to be around him. It certainly had to be strange for him to hold the same Wyatt he had known as a grown man suddenly in his arms as a child.

However, her smile faded instantly as she thought of the last time Chris had seen the adult version of her son. His fiancée Bianca had forced him to return to the future where she had then been killed by Wyatt; Piper’s beloved son Wyatt. Chris hadn’t told them much about what exactly had happened, but knowing what she did now about the future, she had gathered as much.

Somehow Piper felt guilty as she looked over to the young man sitting on the couch. Her son had caused him so much pain and suffering, but despite all that, he wasn’t here for revenge or to kill Wyatt as long as he was still young. No, he had come into this time to prevent the innocent child from ever becoming the monster he knew.

Chris had never told them about his family, but Piper hoped that they were still alive in his time and very proud of him. Had she been his mother, she would be.

 

* * *

 

It was about ten minutes later, when Chris suddenly felt a strange tingling all through his body. Piper obviously felt it, too, because she muted the television and looked at him questioningly. Then, as if on cue, they both jumped off the couch and headed over to Wyatt who had his forcefield activated and was looking around the room anxiously. None of them could see anything, but they were certain not to be alone anymore.

Chris took a few steps away from the playpen to see if he could make out anything suspicious, when a choked gasp behind him suddenly made him turn on the spot in an instant.

_Blood._

So much blood and Piper, who stared at him with her eyes wide open and whose gaze then slowly went down to the tip of the dagger protruding out of her chest. Chris felt as if his own heart had stopped beating while he was fighting against the memories that were threatening to make their way back into his consciousness. All that blood… the blade… Piper who was looking at him, close to death…

It was a scream that got him back into reality, the same moment the demon behind his mother became visible and brutally yanked the dagger back out of her body. His appearance was almost human, although wilder and more feral, and his eyes seemed to be glowing from the inside.

Only subconsciously Chris realised that it hadn’t been Piper or the demon who had screamed, but himself, whereby he had managed to attract the attention of their attacker.

The whitelighter clenched his hand into a fist, using his telekinesis to stop the demon in his movements, but his opponent managed to break free from the grip within seconds and now advanced on Chris with the bloody dagger in his hand.

Flinging his enemy across the room with magic didn’t work, either, so the young man didn’t have another choice but to back away slowly. His eyes wandered over to Piper constantly and he could see how she tried to steady herself with the help of the bars of Wyatt’s playpen, but now inevitably sank to the floor. He was overly aware of the pain etched into her features and wanted nothing more than to be at her side, but he would have to get rid of this demon first. As his powers obviously had no effect at all, he resorted to attacking his opponent with everything in his reach, but vases and chairs didn’t seem to make much of an impact, either.

Now Chris had literally been driven into a corner and he was forced to realise that he couldn’t do anything against this demon. The only choice he had left was to try and orb Piper, Wyatt and himself to safety. The Power of Three would be strong enough to vanquish the demon later, but for that Piper had to survive first.

Chris was just about to orb himself across the room to his mother and brother, when an explosion suddenly hit the demon in his side and made him yell out in pain. The dagger fell from his hand as he was gasping for air, obviously badly hurt. After throwing a last hateful look at Chris, the demon ultimately vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

For a short moment the young man stood petrified. No one else was in the room, so who had injured the demon? His mother was on the ground, unconscious, she couldn’t have done it.

_Oh god,  mum!_

“Mum!” In merely a heartbeat Chris was kneeling next to her on the ground, her frighteningly cold hand in his.

“Mum.” Very carefully, so he wouldn’t aggravate her injury, he pulled Piper into his arms. Blood soaked through his jeans and t-shirt, but he noticed neither that, nor the tears that were streaming down his cheeks, mingling with the red liquid.

“Leo.” What was at first nothing more than a whisper, quickly became much louder, until he was shouting his father’s name at the top of his voice. In his panic Chris didn’t even realise immediately when the Elder finally appeared in a swirl of blue light.

Leo had to grab his shoulders and even shake the young man slightly, until his mind finally snapped back into gear.

“Let her go.” Leo realised how shaken the young whitelighter in front of him still was, so he tried his best to sound as calm as possible, although, in light of Piper’s condition, fear had taken a firm hold of his heart.

“I’m going to heal Piper, but you have to let her go, so I can reach the injury.”

Chris took a moment to follow the instruction, but then he slowly let Piper’s body sink to the floor again. As he was apparently not willing to part from her completely, though, he still held her hand tightly, while his eyes were fixed on Leo.

Now the Elder finally had the chance to help and he quickly let his hands hover over the wound through which Piper’s life was still escaping. For one terrifying moment it seemed to be too late, but then the familiar glow finally appeared and the injury faded away, just like the blood on Piper’s clothes.

Immensely relieved, Leo watched as the love of his life breathed steadily again and then slowly began to open her eyes. When he had heard Chris’ desperate screams, he had come immediately, leaving a meeting with the other Elders to their obvious disapproval. He couldn’t remember the last time he had heard so much panic and despair, though, so he didn’t have another choice but to answer the call right away, as something horrible must have happened.

Now that Piper was quickly recovering and Wyatt was alright, too – of that Leo had made sure immediately upon his arrival – the Elder was shocked as he saw the expression in Chris’ eyes when he looked over to him. Had this been his only hint at the situation, he would have expected to see Piper’s dead body on the floor.

For the first time Leo’s gaze went lower now and to his horror he saw the blood that was still soaking the whitelighter’s clothes. Was it just Piper’s or his own, too?

“Are you hurt?”

It took a while for the meaning of these words to filter through to Chris and even then he was only able to answer with a soft shake of his head. He couldn’t get the picture of Piper and the dagger protruding from her chest out of his head, but it was gradually being replaced by an image from his memories, showing nearly the same scene:

Piper was standing in front of him, just about to hand him a present, as a dark clad man suddenly appeared behind her with a long blade in his hand, which he instantly proceeded to run into her back. Chris had tried to warn her, but everything had happened so fast, and before he had really known what was going on, more men in the same clothes had appeared everywhere. Screams had filled the house for a few moments, but sooner than he could have imagined, everything had become quiet again.

Out of the corner of his eye he had seen his aunts and two of his cousins fall to the ground, but he had just been kneeling at his mother’s side, staring into her dead eyes, too shell-shocked to think about his own safety.

The man, or rather demon, who had killed Piper had then approached him and had kicked him slightly to get his attention. Chris should have seen his end coming, but before the sword could have touched him, his surrounding had vanished behind a wall of blue light. In the last moment he had been able to see Paige, her arm outstretched in his direction, who had orbed him to safety…

 

* * *

 

Piper’s face directly in front of his was what finally brought him back to the here and now. She had her hands at the sides of his head and was forcing him to look into her eyes.

“What happened, Chris? Are you alright?”

During the healing, Piper had been surprised when she had realised that Chris had been holding her hand, but his following reaction had actually been an even bigger surprise.

When she had regained consciousness, the young man had been sitting on the ground, his back against Wyatt’s playpen and his legs pulled up to his chest. He had been hugging his knees and staring of into space, while being cover in sickening amounts of blood.

Seeing him like that had almost been a larger shock for Piper than the demon attack itself. What had happed for the young whitelighter to be this distraught? It wasn’t the first time that one of them had been hurt or even nearly killed, and although it had been very close this time, that didn’t explain his behaviour.

“Chris, talk to me!”

Deep concern was clearly audible in her words, but Chris couldn’t bring himself to follow her request.

The attack and Piper’s injury had brought up too many memories he had been trying to bury for years and being here now with his future parents without being able to talk to them about all that seemed suddenly unbearable.

Chris struggled to get back to his feet, but ignored Piper’s hand as she was trying to help him. The only thing she managed to get out of him, before he orbed away, was:

“I _can’t_.”

**To be continued**


	2. New Revelations

Leo was standing across from the couch in the living room and listened intently as Piper was retelling the events of the evening, now that her sisters had come home.

Phoebe, who had spent the evening with Jason, was visibly shaken when she realised how close she had come to losing yet another sister. Piper noticed this and tried to calm her, but her words were to no avail. Before she had even finished saying “I’m fine now”, Phoebe had already jumped up from her seat and was now hugging her sister forcefully.

“Oh, I’m _sooo_ glad you’re still alive! And you,” she continued, turning to Leo to hug him next, “thank you so very very much for saving Piper’s life.”

“It’s alright, but I think it’s really Chris you should be thanking.”

“Chris?” Was the slightly disbelieving reply of the two younger witches, coming in unison. Piper rolled her eyes in annoyance and motioned for Phoebe to get back to the couch.

“I was just getting to that, so please, if you wouldn’t mind sitting back down on your behind…”

Phoebe complied and when everyone had calmed down again, Piper continued to tell them what had happened after she had regained consciousness. How Chris had obviously saved her from the demon and had called Leo in time to heal her. She also described the strange behaviour of their whitelighter, including the fact that he was missing ever since he had orbed away.

“And he didn’t say anything else?” Paige couldn’t believe what she had just been told about the young man. Not just that he apparently had, at least at first, spent a perfectly nice evening with Piper, but also that something about the demon attack must have affected him enough to cause this breakdown. Piper and Wyatt were fine and Chris had not received any physical wounds, either, so what had triggered this?

“No, nothing. He just orbed away and there was no sign of him ever since,” Leo replied, feeling completely torn. On the one hand he really wanted to go looking for Chris, to make sure the boy was alright, but on the other hand he knew that their relationship wasn’t exactly the best. He was probably the last person on earth the young whitelighter wanted to see right now.

“So Chris has been out there alone for hours now, in this condition?” Phoebe finally asked, obviously just as concerned as the Elder. “We have to find him. Leo, can’t you sense where he is?” She looked expectantly at the Elder, but he just shook his head negative.

“No, somehow he is blocking my powers, but I have a suspicion where he might be.” Leo got up from his seat at this point, realising that his personal history with Chris wasn’t important right now. “You’re right of course, I’ll see if I can find him. But just in case I can’t, maybe you could try scrying for him as well.”

 

* * *

 

The lights of the city below him had always had a calming effect on Chris. As a child he had often come here when he was having trouble with his parents or had gotten into a fight with Wyatt. Sitting on top of the Golden Gate Bridge always gave him the feeling that his problems could not reach him, although he knew all too well that that wasn’t true.

His brother had been the only one in the future who had known about this place and a shiver still went down Chris’ spine when he thought about the day Wyatt had paid him a visit here.

 _“That’s a really nice place you’ve picked here,_ dear brother _.”_

_Chris tried to stay calm and not show his surprise over Wyatt’s sudden appearance._

_“Yes, isn’t it?” He carried on to watch the cars passing below them, staying as composed as possible without so much as glancing at his brother. They both knew that Chris was in no aspect a match for him, but it was no secret that the blond man couldn’t stand to be ignored, especially not from someone of his own family._

_“Look at me, when I’m talking to you!” Wyatt yanked Chris to his feet and held him by the collar of his shirt, their faces only inches apart. For a few seconds, the two so stunningly dissimilar brothers just stared at each other, but as none of them was willing to cave in first and break the eye contact, Wyatt finally lost his temper and threw the other to the ground._

_When Chris stood up again he had the taste of copper on his tongue and so he quickly wiped his hand across his mouth. The red smear of blood on his skin proved that he had fractured his lips._

_“Didn’t you once say that you would never hurt anyone of your family?” Chris spat over the side of the bridge into the water contemptuously and then looked back into the face of his brother._

_Wyatt was slowly circling him now, never taking his eyes off of him._

_“So you’re telling me you’re in pain now? How pathetic. I guess I’ll just have to show you what real pain is, then.” With these words he went over to the edge of the platform, an energy ball forming in his hand._

_“Wyatt, what are you doing? Whatever it is, please don’t!” Although Chris tried to sound calm, he couldn’t stop the panic building in him from creeping into his voice. The grin on his brother’s face when he turned around once more was enough to make the young whitelighter’s heart skip a beat. Something horrible was going to happen._

_“No!” he screamed as Wyatt released the energy from his grip, but his voice was soon drowned out by the sound of an explosion coming from the lanes beneath. Chris was beside Wyatt, staring below, before he had even realised what was happening._

_Debris was flying everywhere and where only seconds ago cars had been driving, a giant hole was now clearing the view on the water. Several of the red steel cables along the side of the bridge had also been damaged and all that was now endangering its entire stability._

_More and more pieces of the road were crashing down into the sea and desperate screams could be heard while the people on the bridge tried to get to safety. From up here, however, Chris could see all too clearly that there would not be enough time for those in the middle of it._

_“I’ve got to help them.” He was already starting to orb to help the victims of the attack, but then he felt how something or rather someone pulled him back._

_“You’re not going anywhere.” Wyatt had whispered these words into his ear and although Chris kept trying to orb, he soon had to realise that his brother’s hold on him was simply too strong to escape from it, leaving him unable to do anything but look on as the catastrophe right in front of him continued. It were only a few minutes until even the pier they were standing on began to collapse, but for the younger one of the two brothers it felt like an eternity while he had to watch the people beneath them dying, forced to stand idly by._

_It was at the very last moment, when Wyatt finally orbed the two of them to safety, into the attic of the old house of their family, Halliwell Manor._

_The instant he had solid ground underneath his feet again and Wyatt had let go of his arm, Chris collapsed onto the couch standing there, trying to regain control over his body. His hands had started to tremble and he was shaking all over, but the young man tried to calm himself by recalling one of the many happy memories he associated with this place._

_Here in the attic he had helped their mother countless times to find something in the Book of Shadows or to brew a potion, but these days were long gone._

_Reality came back in form of Wyatt who was suddenly towering in front of him._

_“Do you know why all these people had to die today?”_

_That was exactly the question that had been going through Chris’ mind over and over again for the past few minutes, but he hadn’t found any logical explanation to it. Wyatt didn’t really seem to expect an answer anyway. For the second time today, his brother took a hold of his shirt and pulled him up so Chris was looking into his eyes._

_“Because of_ you _. All these innocent people died only because of you, so you finally learn not to play games with me. You’re right, I won’t kill or even hurt you, but I know you. There are more than enough ways to cause you pain so you should better not provoke me. Do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it, ‘cause there are a lot more bridges out there and you wouldn’t want anyone else to suffer because of you, right? Never forget this, Chris, you belong to me.”_

* * *

Leo had vanished only about a minute ago and Paige was already sitting in front of a city map, a crystal pendulum in her hand, ready to scry for her whitelighter.

“So, now all we need is something personal of his.” An uncomfortable silence followed this statement and the sisters looked at each other, each of them thinking the same.

“We _do_ have something personal of his, right?” It was Piper who had broken the silence, but neither Phoebe nor Paige wanted to meet her questioning look.

“Chris has been our whitelighter for months and we have nothing here that belongs to him? That can’t be possible.”

“Perhaps there’s something in the club. I could orb into the backroom of the P3 and take a look there,“ Paige offered.

While Piper was thinking about the suggestion, Phoebe let her eyes wander around the room, searching for something that might belong to the young man from the future. Suddenly something in the corner of the room caught her eye. She went over to pick it up and soon realised that it was the dagger her sister had only recently been stabbed with. Even Piper’s blood was still on it.

The instant her fingers touched the metal, the young woman flinched as the images of a vision pierced through her mind. She could see a dark haired demon, leaning against a wall of solid rock. A wound on his right side was bleeding profusely and she noticed that his face was contorted with pain.

The most notable things about him, however, were his eyes, which were glowing brightly despite the sparse lighting of his surroundings.

When the vision was over, Piper’s voice behind her startled Phoebe.

“What did you see?”

* * *

 

“I thought I would find you here.” Leo looked down at the young man, who was watching the brightly illuminated San Francisco, clearly concerned. Chris was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, like he had done in the manor.

“So, you want an award for your ingenuity now, or what?”

Despite of how annoying it was, Leo figured it was a good sign that the young man hadn’t given up on his flippant remarks.

“No, I just want you to come back home. The sisters are worried about you.”

“You said it yourself once, I’m not family. So that’s not my home.”

Leo was surprised by the amount of emotion that lay in that simple statement. He shook his head, though, not agreeing with Chris’ answer.

“You’ve saved Piper’s life today; that makes you family to _me_.”

At this moment, the young whitelighter turned around to him, a mixture of disbelief, but also hope shining in his eyes.

Just a second later, however, the look vanished as soon as it had appeared and Chris was once again as withdrawn as before.

“No, I didn’t save her. I couldn’t do anything against that demon, he was too strong for me. I don’t know who…” His voice faded as a realisation suddenly seemed to hit.

“…Wyatt! He protected ou… his mum and injured that son of a bitch.” In one fluent movement Chris was back on his feet and started pacing in front of a very startled Leo.

“I can’t believe it! He’s just a baby and yet he’s stronger than me. So I’m no match for him in the future, ok, I get it, but _here_? That’s not fair!” After his last turn he was now facing Leo and was giving him such an angry and reproachful look that the Elder couldn’t help but ask himself how exactly that was his fault.

“But you did what you could, Chris, and if it hadn’t been for you, if you hadn’t called me, Piper still would have died.” Leo couldn’t tell since when he cared so much about the young man’s wellbeing, but seeing him now so full of self doubt was suddenly unbearable for him.

“Yes, calling for help. Now _that’_ s a talent.” Chris let his head hang and was muttering these words now more to himself than to Leo.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” There was silence for a few moments, while Chris thought about what he wanted to do now. There was still a task in front of him and he couldn’t just run away. Sooner or later he would have to go back to the Halliwells.

Then he suddenly realised for the first time that his clothes were still drenched in Piper’s blood and for a moment he thought he was going to be sick. Perhaps going back right now wasn’t such a bad idea after all…

 

* * *

 

Chris hadn’t really believed what Leo had said about the witches, but they definitely had been worried about him. Piper immediately hugged him upon his return and thanked him for the rescue, but grudgingly Chris had had to reveal to her, too, that Wyatt had been the one who had driven off the demon.

Deep inside he still couldn’t believe he had been bested by a toddler. Considering that, it was hardly surprising that he had an inferiority complex with his brother.

Then it was Phoebe’s turn to tell him about her vision and the young whitelighter wasn’t surprised that the demon in it was the same one that had nearly eradicated his existence. The sisters had already found him in the Book of Shadows and had written a vanquishing spell.

Chris would definitely use the time the others were gone demon hunting to take a very hot shower. A part of him feared that the stain of Piper’s blood would never go away.

 

* * *

 

The tunnel the Charmed Ones had appeared in was dark and moist, but in the direction they were going, a few torches were illuminating the area. Using the dagger, it had been easy to scry for the demon, but where Paige had orbed them there had only been a trail of blood on the floor, which they were following right now.

All three of them were tense, expecting an attack behind every corner, but so far they hadn’t met anyone. Phoebe was holding the piece of paper with the vanquishing spell so Piper and Paige had their hands free to attack, in case the demon would cause trouble despite his injury.

After they had followed the trail for another minute or two, they finally noticed a figure on the floor about fifty feet in front of them. The demon was lying with his back against the wall, but it wasn’t clear if he was still alive or not.

The sisters approached him carefully, but dead or not, he didn’t seem to pose much of a threat anymore. On the right side of the demon a large puddle of blood had formed on the ground and even as he noticed the witches, he only looked at them through half open eyes.

“You! I thought I’d killed you.” His voice wasn’t much more than a hoarse whisper, but upon seeing Piper, some life seemed to return to him.

“Don’t try anything stupid with me, alright?” The oldest of the sisters had planted herself in front of him threateningly and was now looking down at the demon in disgust. “I want to know why you tried to kill me. Was it just because I’m a Charmed One or was there more to it?”

“Why should I tell you anything? I’m already dying and even if I weren’t, you wouldn’t let me go.” The demon was clearly right with this observation, but he hadn't reckoned with Piper Halliwell, who was now slowly leaning down to him.

“You’re going to tell me what I want to know, because if you don’t, I’ll freeze you, so you can’t die on me, and then I’ll proceed to blow up every single piece of your body, one at a time.”

For a moment the threat simply hung in the air while the demon seemed to ponder if the witch was being serious, but in the end he apparently believed her.

“There’s a prophecy about you. Something about a child. I don’t know what it says exactly, you’ll have to go to the seer for that; maybe she’ll even talk to you. I just know that the bottom line is that it would be better for all of us if you died. That’s it.”

Those were the last words of the demon before he finally died and burst into flames.

As Piper, Paige and Phoebe exchanged confused glances, the oldest of them could just think about one part of what the demon had said: ‘ _All of us_ ’?

**To be continued**


	3. The Seer

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Chris was clearly worried as he watched the Charmed Ones getting ready to orb into the underworld. It had taken him several weeks and a lot of persuasiveness to find the whereabouts of the seer and judging from everything he had heard, she was not an enemy to underestimate. Although, if he was being honest, his concern for the sisters was only one of the reasons he didn’t want to let them go alone.

“Don’t worry, Chris, whatever we find out, you’ll be the first to know.” Paige gave the young man a reassuring smile and laid her hand on his shoulder for a moment, before she went over to her sisters.

Lately there hadn't been anything more important to Chris than finding the seer; he had been downright obsessed with it. He had even neglected the hunt for demons that might be a potential danger for Wyatt and now that the time had come and they were finally paying her a visit, Piper had sentenced him to play the babysitter for her son. No surprise that he was less than happy about it.

Paige glanced to her sisters standing left and right of her and noticed the concerned expression with which Piper was looking at their whitelighter. All of them, but especially the oldest of the sisters had been worried that Chris would go too far in his single-minded focus on locating the seer and figuring out the truth about the prophecy she had made. That had also been the reason for their decision to leave him behind, as they didn’t want to risk escalating this confrontation any more than necessary.

Finally, Paige nodded once more to the young man, before she took the hands of her sisters and orbed them all into the underworld.

 

* * *

 

Moments later Charmed Ones materialised again in a rather small cave that was only dimly lit by a few torches on the walls. The sisters looked around curiously, but their surroundings were completely barred, except from a strange pond in the centre of the cave. At a first glance it seemed as if the inside of the basin was made of a silver material, but on a closer look the witches realised that its content wasn’t water, as they had assumed. Instead, it was a strange silver-grey liquid that was disturbed every now and then by small waves rippling across it its otherwise smooth surface. As Piper, Paige and Phoebe went closer towards the pond, they watched it in fascination for a moment, unable to figure out what was causing the tiny disturbances.

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Startled by this sudden interruption, the sisters spun around to face the new arrival.

In front of them stood a beautiful, rather sparsely dressed woman and was smiling at them friendly. Except from her black clothes, nothing about her appearance indicated that she was a demon. It was her strong aura that revealed that she could be no one else but the seer herself.

She didn’t seem to be planning an attack, but it wasn’t as if demons were particularly reliable in that regard. After all, the witches had had enough bad experiences to know that they could never let your guard down.

“You’re the seer, right.” Piper looked at the woman calmly, but her voice betrayed how tense she really was. The demon nodded and answered her casually, still smiling.

“And you are the Charmed Ones. I hear a lot about you down here.”

“Well, we can’t really say the same about you,” Phoebe, who was also displaying a brilliant smile now, replied challengingly. If the seer wanted to play games, she could have it.

“Oh, that’s because I really value my privacy. If everyone knew about me, I’d have the entire underworld standing on my doorstep in no time. I guess, everybody wants to know at least a little bit about their future, don’t you think? Even you came to me for that.”

The friendly smile hadn't left the seer’s face for even a second, but Phoebe was sure to feel the hint of subtle triumph radiating from her.

The empath wasn’t sure if Piper had noticed it, too, but her older sister clearly had had enough of this conversation. She didn’t like it when demons were friendly, because she never knew what she was dealing with. It could be real, but more likely it was just a deception to attack in a convenient moment.

She preferred open hostility, at least then she knew how to react. Piper would have loved to blow the demon and her stupid smile up on the spot, but sadly they still wanted information from her.

“Actually, I’m more concerned about the present right now. Especially why all the demons of the underworld seem to be after me lately. Word is that you’re the reason for that.”

“Oh, I’m surely not the reason for it. It was rather one of my prophecies that set this chain of attacks into motion, but the reason for it all can indeed be found in your future. But I think it is only fair if you and your sisters learn why the demons aren’t giving you a minute’s rest lately…”

 

* * *

 

Chris was sitting on a chair in Wyatt’s room, watching his brother sleep peacefully. His thoughts were constantly wandering to the sisters and the seer and with growing fear he kept thinking about what they might find out there.

The demons who had attacked them recently had had very little knowledge about the prophecy or had been dead before they could have been questioned. The only information Chris and the Charmed Ones had, was that it said something about Piper and a child and the whitelighter had quite a good notion as to whom that meant. Would the seer give away his identity?

He had spent the last weeks trying to find her and now he was forced to sit back and wasn’t there to prevent her from saying anything that should better remain a secret.

Sighing, he ran his hands over his face. It was no use to work himself up over this as there wasn’t anything left he could do at this point. To get his mind off the issue he looked over at his small charge, who had woken up by now and was staring up at him with big eyes.

Seeing Wyatt here as an innocent young boy would of course never erase the memories of the cruel tyrant he was in the future, but it always reminded Chris that in the here and now nothing had been decided. If he did his job right and looked out for his brother, things would go another way and his time could still be saved.

 

* * *

 

Leo had orbed into the hallway of the Halliwell Manor and had been on his way to Wyatt’s room when he had noticed Chris sitting there.

He had stopped and was now leaning against the door frame, watching his son and the young whitelighter who obviously hadn't noticed him yet. Chris was trying to calm Wyatt, who apparently didn’t want to stay in his bed anymore, with his teddy bear, but was clearly failing.

“The sisters aren’t back yet?”

Chris turned around, appearing perfectly calm, although he was completely startled. He couldn’t believe he hadn't noticed the Elder’s arrival. What if he had said something to Wyatt that could have given away his identity? In the future he had to be more careful to make sure if he really was alone.

“No, they’re still with the seer, but I guess it won’t be long until they’re back.” With that, Chris turned back to his brother in the vague hope that this piece of information would satisfy Leo enough so he would leave again.

Even though their relationship had considerably improved since the first attack on Piper, he still felt uncomfortable around the Elder. The young man knew of course that it was unfair to blame the Leo from this time for his mistake in the future, but all the pent-up anger inside of him couldn’t be switched off that easily. Also, even though it seemed that Leo trusted him now more than before, Chris could still detect a lot of doubt the Elder had about him.

“Listen, Chris, maybe it’s a good thing it’s just the two of us right now. I’ve wanted to talk to you in private for a while now, but with everything that has happened recently, there just wasn’t an opportunity.”

Leo paused to give the whitelighter a chance to react, but Chris preferred to ignore him. He had given up on his attempt to get Wyatt back to sleep and instead went on to take him out of his bed while Leo continued.

“I’ve talked to the sisters and they said that you’ve never told any of them what exactly happened a few weeks ago.” There was still no reaction from Chris, so Leo went on with a sigh.

“I mean when Piper was attacked and nearly killed. When I arrived, you were hardly responsive anymore. You were obviously in some kind of shock and you—”

Now Chris finally turned around to face Leo, Wyatt still in his arms. His brows were furrowed and his entire expression stated more than clearly that he did _not_ want to have this conversation.

“Yes, Leo, I know what you mean. Believe me, I didn’t forget it. But did it ever cross your mind that the reason why I never talked about this to anyone is, that I don’t _want_ to talk about it? That just thinking about this evening brings back painful memories I’d rather forget? Do you think I liked to watch how my... how Piper got pierced by a blade and nearly died in my arms?”

The Elder had been afraid that this conversation wouldn’t be easy, but he could never have anticipated this kind of reaction. He was completely dumbfounded and was just staring at the young man in front of him, not knowing what to reply to this.

Instead, his eyes wandered to Wyatt who had started to get restless during Chris’ emotional answer and was now shifting in his arms. The young whitelighter was having trouble to hold on to him, so Leo went over and reached out to his son.

“Let me take him.”

Without a word Chris passed the little boy over and turned away from Leo, running a hand over his eyes in the process. The Elder had already noticed that the young man was having tears in his eyes - whether from anger or sadness he didn’t know – but he decided better not to mention it. Chris was already uncomfortable enough.

“What did you just want to say? To watch how your… what?”

Chris had meant to say ‘my mother’ and had barely corrected himself in time. But before he could even begin to explain his slip-up, a noise from downstairs interrupted him. Obviously relieved, the whitelighter passed Leo, heading to the stairs.

“That’s got to be the sisters. I just hope the seer told them what this prophecy is about, or else all the trouble to find her was for nothing.”

He was already on the steps when Leo went over to Wyatt’s bed, put his son back in and then went on to follow Chris downstairs. He, too, was eager to hear what Piper, Paige and Phoebe had to tell them.

 

* * *

 

“You’ve really taken your time. I was beginning to worry that…” Chris had just arrived in the living room, expecting to find the Charmed Ones there and was appropriately surprised that instead of three petite witches, four, nearly seven feet tall demons were facing him.

He reacted instinctively and threw one of them to the ground with a flick of his arm, when another demon suddenly grabbed his throat and crashed the back of his head against the wall forcefully.

The sounds of the room went silent instantly and were replaced by a deafening rush in Chris’ ears while everything around him seemed to get darker. Out of the corner of his eye he could see how Leo came into the room now, too, but was knocked out by a very hard hit in the face that sent him crashing back several feet.

The young whitelighter noticed vaguely how something ran down the back of his head and neck as the claw-like hand of the demon tightened around his throat, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe. Chris realised that unconsciousness what about to overcome him and tried to fight it, but that was everything but easy. He wanted to focus and to clear his mind, but the numb feeling that was spreading from the back of his head wasn’t helping at all.

Hot, foul smelling breath hit him as the hideous face of the demon suddenly appeared right in front of Chris, and his attacker hissed threateningly.

“Tell me where the witches are! I’ll rip your head off if you don’t answer, so tell me!”

The whitelighter heard the words, but his foggy mind was unable to process them. Even if he had wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to give a coherent answer.

Without him being able to control it, images suddenly started to appear in front of his eyes. Wyatt, who called him a weakling; his father, who turned away from him; Aunt Phoebe, who hugged him, smiling brightly; Penny Halliwell, stating that he was a poor excuse for a whitelighter; Leo, telling him that he was family now; his mom, lying dead on the ground and finally Paige, who orbed him to safety with her remaining energy.

Chris’ real surroundings became increasingly blurred, but this last image stuck in his mind as everything else faded away. Since he couldn’t breathe anymore, it wasn’t much more than a whisper that escape his throat.

“Paige!” That was everything he was able to do, before unconsciousness claimed him at last.

 

* * *

 

“Wow.” That was the only thing Phoebe could think of, now that they had finally heard the prophecy. She looked over to Piper, who was starring at the seer, disbelief evident in her eyes.

“Are you serious?” The demon didn’t appear to be joking, but the oldest of the Charmed Ones just couldn’t believe it. Was something like that even possible again?

Her gaze wandered from the seer, who nodded shortly as an answer, to Phoebe, who appeared to be just as surprised as Piper herself, and finally to Paige, who seemed to be kind of distracted.

She carefully put a hand on her younger sister’s shoulder, startling her.

“Is everything alright?”

Paige needed a moment to focus on her surroundings again, but then she shook her head resolutely.

“No, it’s Chris, I think he needs us.” Without hesitating, the youngest of the witches took her sisters’ hands and orbed them back to the Halliwell Manor.

 

* * *

 

The Charmed Ones materialised in front of the stairs, just a few steps away from where Leo had gone to the ground. Before they were able to take a closer look at him, though, the demons suddenly noticed them and attacked.

The one who was still holding Chris up against the wall now let go of him and faced the sister as well. Judging from his more elaborate clothes, he was apparently the leader of the group.

Without the strength of the demon holding him up, Chris dropped to the ground unceremoniously, a large red stain on the wall behind him revealing the seriousness of his injury.

One of the demons advanced on Phoebe, but she still had a very strong vanquishing potion in her pocket that she had taken to the seer, just in case, and she was now very glad she didn’t have to use it earlier. The empath threw it directly at the demon, causing him to erupt into flames, screaming, and he was gone within seconds.

Another one of the attackers was now aiming a fireball at Paige, but she was able to orb out of the way in time.

In light of the many recent demon attacks, the sisters had started to keep vanquishing potion like Phoebe’s everywhere around the house, which had already proven to have been a very good idea several times.

Likewise, Paige managed to vanquish her opponent without a problem.

The third demon went for Piper, but he had barely made it a few feet towards her, when she blew him up without hesitation. Finally only the leader was left, but he proved to be more of a challenge than his men.

Piper tried to kill him several times, but her attacks didn’t achieve more than just to slow him down. The demon grinned viciously and threw a fireball at the witch, but he hadn’t reckoned with Paige.

“Fireball!” The young half-witch, half-whitelighter reached out to orb the projectile and sent it back to its originator. He was immediately engulfed by flames and screamed in pain, but a few seconds passed and nothing else happened.

It almost seemed as if the demon would survive, but Phoebe reacted fast enough.

“Piper, now try to blow him up again!” The witch complied and to everyone’s relief, this time her powers actually worked on her opponent. When the demon had disappeared in an impressive explosion, the house was finally safe once more.

For a moment everything was silent and nobody moved, but then the situation finally caught up to them. Knowing that Leo could not have been seriously hurt by the demons, Piper hurried to Chris’ side instead, horrified by his condition. She was kneeling on the ground beside him in a second and tried to find out how serious his injury really was.

“He needs Leo, fast!” Piper announced to her sisters, who were next to the Elder, trying to wake him up. It took several attempts, but Phoebe finally managed to shake his shoulder hard enough causing Leo to slowly wake up again. He didn’t even get time to remember what had happened as the sisters instantly pulled him into a sitting position.

“Chris is hurt, he needs your help. Right now!”

Looking into Paige’s pleading eyes snapped the Elder back into reality and supported by her and Phoebe, he immediately got up and made his way over to the young man on the ground.

Leo kneeled down across from Piper and realised with horror that a puddle of blood had formed under the whitelighter’s head, slowly getting larger. Out of the corner of his eye he could even see the red stains on the wall, but tried not to look too closely. Instead he laid his hands over Chris and focused on healing him.

Warm golden light emanated from them and within a few seconds the puddle of blood vanished and the wound on Chris’ head healed.

 

* * *

 

Darkness surrounded Chris and although it had seemed menacing at first, now it suddenly possessed a strangely calming quality. He had been sure that he didn’t belong here, that he had to fight against what was happening to him, but these thoughts had vanished bit by bit.

Deep inside there was still a part of him that wanted back – whereto he couldn’t remember – but he had basically surrendered to his fate. It was quiet here, comfortable, he could just let go and something was telling him that he hadn’t done that in a very long time.

Vaguely he could still see images of various people and places, but they had already lost all meaning to him. Now Chris was seeing a small blonde boy, not older than a toddler, and he was sure that there was something important, something _very_ important about him, but he just couldn’t quite remember.

Chris was still trying to figure it out, when suddenly a bright friendly light erupted in the darkness. It engulfed his surroundings, penetrated his mind and with the light the memories returned.

Wyatt! How could he have forgotten his own brother?

Everything was back now and Chris realised what the light meant. He had been hurt and Leo was healing him. The whitelighter could feel his body again and he savoured the feeling as his lungs filled with air once more.

For a moment Chris thought that he could still feel the claws of the demon that attacked him around his throat, but when he opened his eyes now slowly he could only see the relieved faces of his parents above him. Well, or at least as close to his parents as it could get.

 

* * *

 

Piper had gone upstairs to check on Wyatt and Phoebe and Paige had started to clean up the mess in the living room. Although Chris was still anxious to learn what the seer had told them, he was using this interruption to look up the demon that had nearly killed him in the Book of Shadows.

He had just found it and the article stated that this type only worked together in small groups, so there would hopefully not be another threat from this side, when Leo walked into the attic.

Chris pretended to be still deeply absorbed in the book as the Elder passed him and went to the other side of the room.

He was at odds with himself, as he expected Leo to try to continue their conversation from earlier. On the one hand he really didn’t want to talk about it for anything in the world, but on the other hand he was also sick of the questions.

Sooner or later even the sisters would want to talk about his reaction to the attack on Piper and the young whitelighter just wanted to put it behind him.

With a sigh he closed the Book of Shadows and looked expectantly at Leo.

“Alright.”

“What?” Leo looked at the young man with genuine surprise. He was just up here so he wouldn’t pelt the sisters with questions until they were ready and he had no idea what Chris was talking about.

“The evening Piper was attacked. I’ll tell you why I reacted the way I did and then we’ll never talk about it again, got it? I don’t care if you tell the sisters, but I want them to leave me alone, too.” He waited for Leo’s reaction, his face expressionless, until the Elder finally nodded.

“Okay, we’ll never mention it again.”

Chris ran his hands across his face and turned around to the window behind him. He just couldn’t look at Leo right now.

“My mother…” He hesitated and looked outside, searching for anything that he could mentally hold on to.

_Pull yourself together, will you? Just get it over with and then you can try to forget it again._

Chris put a hand on the windowsill and started again.

“Piper is quite similar to my mother. They’ve got the same height and she also had long brown hair, just like Piper. Only that my mum is dead.”

He could hear how Leo took a breath behind him, maybe even wanted to say something, but Chris didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“She was killed many years ago by a demon, the same way Piper was nearly killed; she was stabbed from behind.” Chris had to take a deep breath himself now before he was able to continue. Both of his hands were resting on the windowsill now and he noticed that he was beginning to tremble.

“It happened right in front of me, but I wasn’t able to help her. I was barely a teenager at the time, but I should have done something, I…”

His voice broke and he just couldn’t speak anymore. Chris knew that his whole body was shaking, but he simply couldn’t help it.

He just couldn’t think about this moment and his own helplessness without being overwhelmed by his guilt. If only he had done something, anything…

The whitelighter froze as he suddenly felt Leo’s hand on his shoulder. He was afraid to turn around. What if there was the same accusation in Leo’s eyes as it had been in his father’s all those years ago? He wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Never, in all his life would Chris have expected the words he heard next.

“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. You loved your mother, didn’t you?”

At this question Chris turned around instantly, looking as if he had been slapped.

“Of course I did!”

Leo looked at him sympathetically. It was hardly surprising that the young whitelighter was always so withdrawn, if he had been carrying the blame for his mother’s death for all these years.

“Well, then I can’t see how any sensible person could ever blame you for her death, especially if you were that young. I wasn’t there, of course, but I’d bet your mother wouldn’t see it like that, either. After all, a demon killed her, not you.”

Chris couldn’t suppress the small tug at the corner of his mouth at Leo’s choice of words. ‘Any sensible person’. If he only knew…

 

* * *

 

After Chris had calmed down again, he and Leo had went downstairs and were now sitting in the living room with the sisters, who told them about their visit to the seer.

Phoebe had made coffee for all of them and so Chris, too, was holding a steaming cup as he listened to Paige’s account of the meeting with the demon. Then Piper summarised briefly what the seer had explained in long and voluminous sentences.

“Well, basically the prophecy says that I’m going to have another child.”

_So far, so good._ That much Chris had already been expecting and Piper didn’t seem to be completely sold on the entire thing anyway. This wouldn’t be much of a problem.

“And… well… that this child is going to be even more powerful than Wyatt.”

Hot coffee and porcelain shards spread across the floor and all eyes focused on Chris, who didn’t even seem to realise that he had just dropped his cup.

All the colour had drained from his face and he seemed to have just seen the proverbial ghost as his gaze was fixed firmly ahead of him, avoiding the looks of the others.

“That… that’s not possible.”

**To be continued**


	4. The Truth and Other Solutions

“What do you mean, ‘it’s not possible’?” Paige looked at the young whitelighter questioningly, but didn’t receive an answer.

Chris wasn’t even listening to her. In fact, he wasn’t paying any attention to her or the others as he got up from his seat now, feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden, and headed over towards the window.

“Why would the seer say something like that?” he muttered, running a hand over his face absentmindedly. “That can’t be true. But what if... No! Nobody is stronger than Wyatt, especially not—”

He interrupted himself just in time; no way that he would give away his secret over this. If it was even still possible to hide his connection to the Halliwells at this point. Now that they knew that Piper was going to have a second child it wasn’t far to the conclusion that _he_ might be this child. This prophecy seemed to be sabotaging all of his efforts to stay incognito.

“Is it really true, I’ll have another child?”

Piper’s disbelieving voice finally pulled Chris out of his thoughts and he turned around to look at her, still indecisive as to how to handle the situation. He simply didn’t know how much he was allowed to tell his family about the future, but in the end he finally made up his mind and gave a small nod.

“Yes.”

“And with whom... I mean... who is the father?” Piper’s voice was merely a whisper and yet her question seemed to echo in the following silence.

Chris stared at the ground, as he couldn’t look into his mother’s eyes anymore and he also found himself unable to answer her question.

“Is it me?” Leo finally asked, a slight tremble in his voice, as the Elder was obviously fighting hard to remain calm despite of what he was about to find out.

While Leo and the sisters were waiting for Chris to reply, Phoebe noticed to her surprise that the emotions in the room were actually so intense right now that she could sense them in spite of the blocking potion the others had taken to prevent just that. All those feelings mixed up together were creating such a haze, however, that she had to concentrate to figure out who was feeling what.

Great joy, but mixed with insecurity and confusion – that had to be Piper.

Concern about these new developments – that could only be Paige. Considering that it had been a demon, who had told them about the new addition to their family, Phoebe could hardly blame her sister for being suspicious.

The strongest emotion in the room, however, was fear and it seemed to be coming from more than one person.

Leo being afraid right now hardly came as a surprise to Phoebe. After all, he had just been told that the woman he loved would have a second child, but without knowing if it would be his as well. She could tell that this doubt was slowly driving him crazy.

The second person feeling fear was more unexpected, though, as if was Chris, who didn’t seem to be in any hurry to answer the Elder’s question. The empath she could almost physically feel how everything in the young man was tensing and that, although he appeared completely calm on the outside, he was in fact close to a panic. It was no secret that the young whitelighter always worried a lot about how his actions here in this time could influence the future, but only now did Phoebe actually understand just how much he was really afraid of damaging it irreparably.

She felt that he had never wanted to let it come to this and to give away as much information as he already had, but also that he knew he couldn’t avoid the question in the room any longer. An eternity seemed to have passed until the simple word “yes” came across the young man’s lips a second time and he all but collapsed onto the armchair behind him, sighing.

Both Piper and Leo remained surprisingly calm once Chris had finally answered the Elder’s question. Piper in particular didn’t really know how to react to this new information. On the one hand she was very surprised; she had thought that things between her and Leo were over for good, but deep down she was actually glad that he would be the father of her second child as well.

The witch couldn’t help but smile as she looked into his eyes and Leo returned the smile, gently laying a hand on hers. He had thought he had lost Piper forever through his ‘promotion’ to an Elder, but seeing as they had another child in Chris’ time, his concern had obviously been unfounded.

Then a thought suddenly crossed Leo’s mind that immediately destroyed this thought of a future together.

“Chris, in your time, didn’t I stay here as their whitelighter?” He indicated the sisters and looked at the young man questioningly.

Already suspecting where this was heading, Chris answered only reluctantly.

“Well, uhm… yes, but…”

“And you don’t think you might have changed the timeline just _slightly_ by setting me up to become an Elder?”

Crestfallen, Chris let his head hang. He had been afraid that this topic could come up one day, but he could hardly tell the others that the only existence he had risked had been his own.

“It was the only chance for me to become their whitelighter and the only way for me to protect Wyatt. You have to believe me that I wanted to get you two back together. Splitting you up forever is the last thing I wanted to do.”

“You let us separate, you made Leo leave his family just so you could become our whitelighter?” Piper sounded completely incredulous at this point. “You wanted to protect Wyatt, I get it, but to save him you accepted the possibility of sacrificing his brother or sister? How dare you decide which one of my children is more important?” Piper’s tone of voice had gone from shock to anger to contempt and she was now staring at the young man with fury shining in her eyes, still completely unaware of who was really sitting there in front of her.

Chris kept his eyes to the ground, not able to stand his mother’s glare. Dead silence filled the room until Phoebe suddenly took Chris’ side unexpectedly.

“I think you two are doing him wrong.”

Chris’ head snapped back up at this and he now stared at his aunt in slight bewilderment, just like his parents and Paige.

“I can feel that he’s telling the truth, he didn’t want to split you up for good, but he didn’t see any other way. But concerning the child he is still keeping something from us.” Phoebe looked directly into his eyes, before she continued. “What is it Chris? Why isn’t it possible that this child will become stronger than Wyatt?”

Chris eyes widened slightly at the realisation that Phoebe could feel his emotions again. He wasn’t quite sure if the effect of the potion was fading, or if simply wasn’t strong enough to subdue the state he was in right now emotionally, but he quickly realised that the only way to stop the witch from finding out his secret was to calm down again and hope that that was enough to evade her powers. It was more than obvious that refusing to answer Phoebe’s question wasn’t an option, but he couldn’t tell the truth, either, and he didn’t want the witch to catch him lying.

Chris took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to placate the roaring mass of emotions that was running through his mind right now, until he noticed a small flicker of confusion passing over Phoebe’s face. Obviously he couldn’t be completely sure, but he had the strong impression that the empath wasn’t able to sense anything from him anymore. Even without the danger of Phoebe looking through his lies, though, the young whitelighter knew that he had to come up with a very good explanation as to why Wyatt’s brother couldn’t be stronger than him. He simply couldn’t admit the truth, so I had to come up with something else the others couldn’t question. Fast.

 “It’s not possible, because… because your younger son…” He looked over to Piper and Leo who were listening intently and all of a sudden Chris had the feeling that they were only seconds away from figuring him out. He would have to say something really convincing or they would probably never leave him alone.

“Because he’s… dead.” _Oh, great…_

Piper stared at him in shock, her hands clutched over her mouth. That couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. Her son, her baby would die? How could that have happened? She barely knew anything about the future, but how could she have let something happen to her child?

The witch let her head rest against Leo’s chest gratefully as the Elder suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He could hear her sobs while her fingers dug into his shirt, searching for something to hold on to.

Completely in shock, Leo locked back and forth between his wife and the whitelighter from the future who had just ripped his heart apart with this news. One moment he learnt that he and Piper would have another son and in the next he was already informed of his death. That was _not_ how this was supposed to work!

He looked back at Chris, who had his face buried in his hands. It was more than evident that he had never wanted to tell them this, but the prophecy and the sisters’ curiosity hadn’t left him much of a choice.

Chris finally let his hands sink and looked at his parents sympathetically.

“I really can’t tell you anything else, I’m sorry. I’m just gonna … leave you guys alone for a while. Call me, if you need me.”

He looked one last time at Piper, who was in tears and at his aunts, who didn’t really seem to know how to react in this situation. They both had tears in their eyes and looked at their sister compassionately, but nobody said a word. Because in this moment there was nothing to say that could have eased Piper’s pain.

White-blue light appeared as Chris orbed away, but nobody paid it any attention.

 

* * *

 

After a few moments the light appeared again, this time in the backroom of the P3. At first Chris had wanted to go to his spot on the Golden Gate Bridge, but that was a place to calm down, and right now, he didn’t want to calm down.

As soon as he had materialised, he grabbed the first thing in his reach, an empty glass bottle from the table, and threw it against the wall where in shattered loudly.

_Why? Why did I have to say something like that? Mum is so miserable and just because of me. In two respects, actually._

A humourless smile appeared on his face at the thought of the irony of this statement.

A half-full glass followed the bottle, leaving a quite impressive stain on the wall, but Chris was still furious. He kicked a chair across the room, wiped the contents of a shelf to the floor and finally even threw over the table until his anger at himself had somewhat subsided.

Breathing heavily, Chris stood in the centre of the room and looked at the chaos surrounding him. Piper would surely want an explanation for this, but that wasn’t important right now. There was nothing on her mind, anyway, aside from the alleged death of her son.

When Chris remembered the pain in her eyes again, he was tempted to destroy another part of the furniture, but pulled himself together. That wouldn’t change anything. He had to tell Piper the truth, admit that he had lied to her. But how could he get into her sight after that ever again?

Completely depleted he let himself fall onto the couch and ran his hands over his face. _Stronger than Wyatt._ The words of the prophecy shot through his mind unexpectedly.

All his life his brother had always been the stronger one of them. He was the twice-blessed child, the master of Excalibur. Not even once had Chris stood a chance against him. So how could this prophecy be explained? Had his actions in this time changed the future so drastically or had the seer been lying for some reason?

He had to get to the bottom of this and there was only one person who could help him with that. The same person who had set all this off.

 

* * *

 

“I was beginning to wonder when you would show up here.”

Chris had orbed in behind the seer, but she did not turn around to him.

“And here I thought you could see into the future. Shouldn’t you have known when I would get here?” Chris was beginning to get the faint hope that the seer might not be as good as her reputation had let him to believe. She was surely wrong about him.

 “My predictions are usually concerning bigger things. I can’t see every single detail of what’s about to happen, but believe me, your future is no triviality. And I’m absolutely certain about it.” The demon slowly turned around to him now and looked directly into Chris’ eyes.

“That is why you’re here, after all, isn’t it? You can’t or won’t believe what I told the witches. But I assure you, it is the truth.”

Chris looked at the woman in front of him indecisively. She didn’t appear to be playing any games with him, but was completely serious.

There was something else that was still bugging him, though.

“Why didn’t you tell them who I really am? I mean, you tell Piper that she’s going to have a second child, but you don’t tell her that I’m this child. Why not?”

“As I told the sisters before, I thought it only fair that they know why all the demons of the underworld are after Piper right now. As to you, your identity is your own business. You will have to tell the Charmed Ones yourself who you really are; I will not get involved in that.”

One the one hand Chris was thankful for the seer’s attitude on this matter, but on the other, she would at least have taken the difficult decision from him if she had told his mother and aunts about him. Plus, he wouldn’t have gotten himself into so much trouble with his family.

As if she had read his thoughts, which, now that he was thinking about it, might have actually been the case, the seer suddenly looked at him knowingly.

“It would probably be easier for you if you stopped telling lies to your family. You should know by now that they don’t like that.”

“Yes, I know, but it’s not that simple. There are so many things to consider, so much that could go wrong.”

“There always is, but sometimes the truth is simply the best solution. And I’m a demon, so if even I say that, there’s got to be something to it.” She smiled at Chris encouragingly, which only amplified her beauty, but the young man just stared at her suspiciously.

“That’s exactly the problem, you’re a demon. Why do you give me advice, what’s in it for you?” Chris had grown up in the firm believe that demons were almost always evil through and through, so why was the seer being this friendly and helpful? She had to be up to something.

“Well, if you have to know, I’ve seen the future you come from, the future that awaits us all should you fail here. Your brother is clearly going to become evil, but he’s not going to side with us demons. He is stronger than anyone else, good or evil. If this future happens, he’s going to kill everyone who might pose a threat to him or doesn’t want to bow to him. The Source has always accepted my independence, but Wyatt won’t do that. So, the better your relationship to the Charmed Ones is and the more you tell them important things about the future, the bigger will be your chance to be successful. I’m really just helping myself here in the long run.”

Chris was willing to accept the seer’s explanation, but was becoming frustrated that he had still not received an answer to what had initially brought him here.

“But what about the prophecy? How am I supposed to be stronger than Wyatt? Because I’m not! I’ve fought against him many times, but to no avail; he will always be the twice-blessed, while I’m just his kid brother.”

The seer smiled sympathetically as she walked over to Chris to lay a hand on his shoulder, affection evident in the gesture.

“I don’t know how it will happen, maybe that will come to me one day, but I have seen how strong you will become. Believe me, Wyatt will not be a threat to you much longer.” Her smile faded slightly and she seemed somewhat distant as she continued to speak.

“You should better go now. There are a few demons on their way here and I don’t really want everyone to know that I’m getting visits from whitelighters. But think about the advice I gave you.”

“How can you…? Oh, forget it.” Chris rolled his eyes and orbed out of the cave, only seconds before a group of ill-tempered demons arrived there.

 

* * *

 

Chris orbed into the attic of the Halliwell manor and let himself fall onto a couch. He only had the word of the seer to rely on that the prophecy was true, but although she was a demon, he was slowly starting to believe her.

How long had he wanted to be able to stand up to Wyatt? As children it had only been normal rivalry between siblings, but after the death of their mother all the others and Wyatt’s… change it had become more and more of a necessity that someone would stop his brother and Chris had known that this responsibility was on him.

Piper’s death had weighed heavily on their father; even if he had possessed the power, he wouldn’t have lifted his hand against his eldest son. So there was just Chris as his closest relative, but he had never been a match to Wyatt. Going to the past and stopping the future from ever happening had been his only chance, but if the seer was right…

His current plan was of course still the best option, because of all the victims that would be saved, but even if he failed he would still be able to stop Wyatt in the future. Also, the more powerful he was, the bigger his chance to succeed here and if Wyatt ever managed to send someone to this time again, he would be prepared for it.

Suddenly Chris got back up from the couch and went over to the Book of Shadows. The seer had said that he would one day be stronger than Wyatt, but when would that be? And what did he have to do to increase his powers? There had to be some spell in the book to see the future to find out about all that.

If he ever had to face his brother again, he had to be sure that he would achieve more than before. After all, his last attempt, before he had come here with Bianca’s help, had nearly had fatal consequences for him.

The whitelighter shook his head slightly to chase away the memories of that day; he had to concentrate on finding that spell.

It only took a few minutes until he had found something fitting. _‘To see your own future’_. The spell was kept a little vague, but Chris didn’t need long to alter it accordingly. Before he used it, he made sure that the book was closed. He didn’t want the sisters to find out that he had used a spell, especially not one that relied on the powers of their family.

Chris repeated the spell a few times in his head until he knew it by heart and then put the piece of paper he had used to alter it into his pocket. Then he closed the door and went into the middle of the room. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on what he wanted to see.

 

“I call upon the Halliwells

Show me what’s beyond time and space

Let me see my future’s shape

Please grant me this act of grace

So I can find there’s still an escape.”

 

The instant the last syllable had passed over his lips, everything went black in front of Chris’ eyes. Before he could even form a single thought, he had already collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

 

* * *

 

Piper was standing in Wyatt’s room with her son in her arms, rocking him slowly. She didn’t make a sound while doing it, but Leo, who was standing at the door, could see the tears running down her cheeks. A few minutes ago Wyatt had suddenly started screaming for no apparent reason, just as if he knew about the horrible news his parents had received.

Leo still couldn’t believe what he had learned in the last hour. There was apparently still hope for him and Piper, but now that they knew about the early death of their son the situation was more than complicated. He wondered vaguely how much the timeline had been altered just by them knowing about it.

How much he regretted now to have pushed Chris like that. The young man hadn’t wanted to tell them about his time and now Leo knew at least partly why. This stupid prophecy…

His musings were suddenly interrupted when there was a dull noise from the attic, as if something or someone had fallen to the floor. He and Piper looked at each other and she immediately put Wyatt back into his bed, before they headed out of the room and up the stairs in a hurry.

 

* * *

 

_Lost in thought Chris wandered through the rooms of his home. For years nobody had been living here, but he just couldn’t think of this house any differently._

_The fact that it was now a museum seemed like a sick joke somebody was playing on him, as if the only memories of the Halliwells were their belongings left in this building. In truth his mother had always seen her sons as her legacy to the future and they were both still alive._

_Despite that, this institution had been the magnificent idea of his brother. Wyatt had always been so incredibly proud of his heritage. After all, he was the son of a Charmed One and an Elder. But Chris still remembered how calm Wyatt had been after finding out about Piper’s death. She had been something to brag about, but as a person she had never meant very much to him._

_For Chris, losing her had been the end of the world, but for Wyatt it had just been the chance to finally drop his façade. Until then, only his brother had noticed how cold and cruel he could be at times, but after the Power of Three had been broken and nobody was there to stop him, he didn’t bother anymore to hide anything. He had started to make a name for himself in the underworld and began to expand his control there and in the human world. Nowadays one could easily call him the ruler over both worlds._

_Chris had already walked past his old room, but nothing there indicated that he had ever existed. Same with the rest of the house. Several pictures were showing the sisters, Leo and of course their firstborn, but nowhere a sign of Chris. Wyatt didn’t like to share his glory, not even with his own brother._

_Chris now stood in front of the virtual display of the Book of Shadows. A smile passed across his features and for a second he was tempted to call it, just to browse through the familiar pages once more, but that wasn’t the reason he had come here. It would only give away his presence._

_His target was a glass case in the corner of the room in which several magical weapons were stored. When he had first seen the ornamented athame kept in there, the young man had been surprised that Wyatt would leave something that powerful here, but his brother probably thought that nothing could pose a threat to him anymore._

_Chris stood with his back against the wall next to the case, preparing to break the glass. He knew the security measures in the museum; as soon as something was broken it wasn’t possible to orb anymore and a few demons would appear to see what had happened. However, Chris was sure that he would be able to handle them._

_He used a chair to shatter the glass case. Magic was registered in the building and that would just tip the demons off early that he could defend himself._

_As if on cue, four large figures appeared in the attic and looked around, searching for the source of the alert, but before they could accomplish that, it was already too late for two of them, as Chris vanquished them with two well aimed energy balls. He had to duck to avoid the attacks of the other two, grabbed the athame in the process and then tried to get away into the direction of the door._

_The demons followed him, but Chris managed to kill them both on the stairs without being hit himself. He had nearly reached the front door when he suddenly ran into an invisible shield and crashed back onto the ground with a yelp of both pain and surprise._

_Still a little dazed, the young man started to get back up, when someone suddenly came up from behind him. He was pulled to his feet and before he had any time to react, he was staring into the eyes of his brother._

_“Traitor.” Wyatt spoke very quietly, but Chris couldn’t remember ever hearing such anger in his voice._

_“Did you really think you could hurt me with this? With this toy? Go on, try your luck.”_

_Without Chris moving so much as a muscle, his hand with the athame was suddenly between him and his brother, the tip of the weapon aiming directly at the latter’s heart._

_He thought of all the murders Wyatt had committed, the friends he had lost because of him and tried to strengthen his resolution. In despite of all that, though, Chris’ hand was trembling and he just couldn’t bring himself to thrust the blade into his brother’s heart._

_Seconds passed and nobody moved until Wyatt finally grabbed the athame from Chris and shoved it forcefully into his left upper arm._

_Pain shot through the young man and he cried out before he managed to pull himself back together. It took a moment until he was thinking clearly again and by then Wyatt had already pulled the weapon out of his arm again and passed it on to one of his demonic bodyguards standing behind him at the wall._

_The dark haired whitelighter glanced at them and noticed to his amazement a woman in their ranks for the first time. She had to be damn good for Wyatt to accept her. His eyes lingered on her for a moment, but a hand on his throat made him focus back on his brother instantly._

_“I can’t believe that the two of us are actually supposed to have the same parents. It’s almost pathetic how weak you are. It’s inconceivable that we are brothers. Usually I would kill you for what you were trying to do, but I guess that would only be a waste of my energy.” Wyatt continued to glare at him for several seconds, obviously pondering what to do with his brother, and finally turned towards the demons._

_“Lock him up!”_

_Chris wanted to ask Wyatt what he planned to do to him, where he would be taken, but before he even managed to say a word, the fist of one of the demons collided with his face, sending him into the realm of dreams._

* * *

_The first thing Chris noticed when he came to was the cold. He opened his eyes slowly, but the lighting didn’t really improve. It was so dark that he could barely make out his own hand in front of his face. He could feel stone floor underneath his back and when he tried to sit up, he immediately remembered the wound on his arm._

_His breath caught in his throat as the pain pierced through him. He felt carefully for the wound with his right hand and noticed that his entire sleeve was wet with blood. Chris began to take off his jacket, but the cold had stiffened his limbs, forcing him to move slowly. It seemed like an eternity until he had finally succeeded in wrapping the jacked around his arm to stop the bleeding for now._

_The young whitelighter then tried to orb, but wasn’t very surprise that neither that nor any of his other powers worked. So he just sat there, leaning against the wall, and tried to make out the size of his cell in the dark._

_It seemed to be about ten feet square, with the walls consisting of solid rock and no sign of a door visible. A faint light was coming through a small opening near the ceiling, but it was much too high to reach and probably latticed anyway._

_Chris couldn’t find any way to escape, but he didn’t feel capable of going anywhere anyway. The pain in his arm had subsided to a dull throb, but he could tell that he had lost a lot of blood. And then there was still the cold. He must have been here for quite a while already because it had chilled him to the bone and was slowing all of his movements._

_Chris noticed that it was getting increasingly hard for him to form a clear thought and instead simple cravings like thirst and hunger became stronger. He hadn’t drunk anything for a while and his last meal had been hours before he had broken into the Halliwell Manor in the middle of the night. Who knew how late it was now._

_Hours or maybe even days passed without the young whitelighter being able to even guess how many. He let his thoughts wander and every now and then he fell into a dreamless sleep, but he couldn’t always tell the difference with the constant darkness around him._

_The hunger was gone by now, but Chris’ hadn’t paid it any mind, anyway. He felt much too numb to mind anything, really._

_A few minutes – or had it been hours – after he had woken up this time, he had felt something running down his arm and had realised that his makeshift bandage had been soaked through. At first he had wanted to renew it, but then the importance of that had somehow vanished from his mind._

_As a hidden door in the wall suddenly opened, Chris needed several seconds to register it, but even then he paid it no real attention. He could tell from the shape in the door that someone was standing there, but who was completely impossible to tell. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice was trying to warn him, yelling ‘Wyatt’, but Chris wasn’t capable to do anything against the arrival._

_When the figure came closer and finally knelled down to him, he tried to move along the wall awkwardly, but didn’t have a chance obviously._

_“Stay calm, Chris. I’m going to get you out of here, don’t worry. I’ll get you to safety, then Wyatt won’t be able to harm you anymore.” The figure carefully wrapped one arm around the young man and pulled him to a standing position. Very slowly they walked through the cell and into the corridor in front of it, towards freedom._

_“I’ll make sure that you will be better soon. My name is Bianca and I’ll take care of you.”_

**To be continued**


	5. Darkness

When Piper and Leo arrived in the attic, the witch had expected to find at least one dangerous demon there, as had been the case far too many times in the past and in the last few weeks especially. When she looked around and failed to find an immediate threat, however, she actually thought for a split second that the room was empty, after all, until Leo caused her to revise that impression.

“Piper!” The Elder called out tensely as he rushed forward and kneeled on the ground next to an unmoving figure.

If Piper had only once in her life been sure to stand in front of a dead body, it had been in this very moment. Chris was lying on the ground in front of her, his eyes open, and was staring at the ceiling with an empty expression. His already pale skin had taken on an almost ghostly shade and his lips were tinged light blue.

 _He is dead._ Piper felt like she couldn’t breathe anymore and her knees threatened to buckle underneath her, so she let herself sink to the floor next to Leo. The Elder was leaning over the young man carefully and felt his neck for a pulse.

“Is he…?”

A few terrifying seconds passed until Leo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, he’s still alive. But he’s ice cold. Can you get him a blanket?”

Piper nodded softly and went to get one from the couch, while Leo held his hands over Chris’ chest and started to concentrate. But although he tried hard to heal the young whitelighter, nothing happened. He tried again and again, but always with the same devastating result. Chris didn’t show any reaction to his efforts, just as if he was really dead. However, Leo had felt his heart; it wasn’t beating very strongly, but it was beating and that was all that counted.

Piper had come back with the requested blanket and now laid it carefully over the motionless body in front of her.

“Why isn’t it working?”

“I don’t know. If I knew what caused this condition I might be able to help Chris, but right now I have no idea what to do.” Leo looked the young man up and down, but stopped when he noticed something strange.

The left sleeve of Chris’ shirt had taken on the dark red colour of blood, although the fabric itself was still in one piece.

Frowning, Leo carefully rolled the sleeve up, until a very deep looking wound appeared, startling both him and Piper. He could hear how the witch took a sharp breath beside him.

Leo had no idea how on earth Chris had managed to receive this injury. It looked very recent, but then why was the sleeve covering his arm still intact? Just like Chris’ general condition, this didn’t make any sense.

Finally, the Elder decided to ignore this mystery for a moment and tried to heal the wound, only to realise that this didn’t work, either. Not that he was actually surprised.

“Wait here, I’ll get some bandages,” Piper announced and hurried out of the attic immediately. Leo’s gaze fell back on the young man’s face involuntarily. Seeing him lying there with open eyes was kind of unsettling and Leo thought about closing them, but as that was something one usually did to corpses he stopped himself. He didn’t even want to think about the idea of his successor here in the Halliwell house dying.

The Elder suddenly notice that they were still on the ground, so he carefully picked Chris up along with the blanket and carried him over to the couch. As soon as he had laid him down on the cushions, Piper came rushing back into the room, a first aid kit in hand.

It was completely silent in the attic while Piper wrapped the still bleeding wound on Chris’ arm. When she was done, her eyes stayed on the young whitelighter for another long moment, before the witch finally went over to the Book of Shadows to look for an explanation for his condition.

 

* * *

 

Half an hour had passed since they had found Chris, but his condition had not changed during that time. Piper was still searching through the book for an answer, while Leo was pacing up and down the attic.

He hated being this helpless. As an Elder he possessed a wide range of different powers, but his ability to heal had saved the lives of the sisters and their allies more often than he dared to remember, making it his most important gift. Now that he couldn’t do anything, Leo felt utterly useless.

The tense silence in the room was suddenly broken when Paige and Phoebe came through the door and Leo realised in shock that both he and Piper had been too wrapped up in the situation to inform the two witches of what had happened.

“What are you looking for, Piper?” Phoebe asked, surprised to find her sister and brother-in-law up here. She had expected them still to be in grief about what Chris had told them earlier, but the tension in the room did not fit her expectation at all.

“Leo, is everything alright? What’s going on?” Paige asked tentatively, but instead of answering her question, the Elder gestured towards the couch in the corner of the room.

The sisters followed his movement and what they saw made their breaths catch in their throats for a moment.

The youngest of the Charmed Ones ran over to the still unconscious whitelighter immediately, while Phoebe was rooted to the spot. Shocked, she turned towards her brother-in-law.

“Oh my god, is he…”

“No. We, or rather Piper is trying to find out what’s wrong with him.”

“Do you think he’s been attacked by a demon?” Phoebe looked from Leo to her older sister sceptically, but Piper just shrugged. “I mean what would a demon gain by leaving Chris in this state?”

“I don’t know, Phoebe, and I haven’t found anything to support this idea yet, but what else could it be?”

Before the empath could reply anything to that, though, Paige suddenly chimed in on the conversation.

“Ehm, guys, I don’t want to interrupt, but I think you can ask Chris yourselves. Looks like he’s waking up.”

 

* * *

 

When Chris slowly came back to consciousness, at first he didn’t know where he was. The cold that had surrounded him in Wyatt’s captivity was gone, although he still felt frozen to the bone. Now he was lying on a soft surface and tried to concentrate on the voices around him. He vaguely remembered a woman saving him. Bianca. Was she here?

The young whitelighter tried to determine who was talking, but at first it was hard to remember the faces matching the voices. Then somebody suddenly took his hand and he savoured the warmth spreading from the touch. It also served to anchor him back to reality.

“Chris, can you hear me? It’s me, Piper, please look at me.”

Chris tried to open his eyes, but after a moment he realised in horror that they were already open. He blinked several times in panic, but nothing changed. He was blind.

 

* * *

 

Piper had taken a hold of Chris’ hand and noticed rather surprised that he tightened his grip while fighting his way back to consciousness. He blinked several times and turned his head around, but without really focusing on anything. In the end it was the young man’s first question that genuinely startled Piper.

“Where am I?”

A few seconds passed until the witch managed to answer.

“You’re in the attic, don’t you remember it? I’m Piper and these are my sisters Phoebe and Paige and that…” Piper pointed at herself and the others in turn, but Chris interrupted her immediately.

“No, that’s not it. I know who you are and everything, but… I… I can’t see. I’m blind.”

 

* * *

 

Leo couldn’t believe his ears. The young whitelighter couldn’t just have said that. It wasn’t possible that he was blind; or was it?

But the way Chris’ gaze shifted across the room, how he was looking at nobody directly just supported his statement. Now that Leo looked more closely, he also realised that the green of the young man’s eyes had taken on a strange milky shade.

“What happened?” Paige finally asked the question that had been going through everybody’s mind.

Chris sat up carefully and ran his hands across his face before sighing and answering hesitantly.

“I used a spell. I wanted to see into the future to find out if there’s any truth to the seer’s prophecy, but it didn’t work. At least not as intended.”

“What do you mean by that?” Piper looked at Chris, puzzled, only to realise that he couldn’t even see her expression.

“I wasn’t concentrating properly. Instead of seeing what I wanted to know, I was just remembering something… different.”

“Did you get hurt in that memory?”

Now it was Chris who gave Piper a puzzled look, although he was looking only roughly in her direction.

“Why do you ask?”

“Your arm.” To make sure he understood her correctly, the witch tentatively touched Chris’ left arm, just underneath the bandage she had applied earlier.

Chris flinched under the unexpected touch. He hadn’t expected this damn spell to have such dramatic repercussions. Now that his body was starting to get warm again, he began to feel the injury on his arm and was just glad that he hadn’t been hurt any worse back then.

It was Phoebe’s voice that interrupted his thoughts.

“Leo, why didn’t you heal him?”

Yes, Chris thought that was a very valid question. He turned his head expectantly in the direction he assumed his father in.

“It didn’t work. I tried several times, but my powers didn’t achieve anything.”

Granted, that was not the answer Chris had been expecting. This spell really proved to be much more insidious than he had thought. Next time he would think twice about just rewriting anything from the Book of Shadows.

“But now that you’re awake I should probably try again.” Careful not to aggravate the injury or cause the young man any more pain, Leo slowly unwrapped the bandage and exposed the quite deep stab wound.

Chris could hear Paige muttering “ouch” under her breath and couldn’t help but smile at her sympathy. A pleasant warmth spread though his arm while Leo healed the injury.

“Strange.”

Chris noticed the weird tone of the Elder’s voice.

“What’s strange?”

“The wound left a scar that I’m not able to heal, no matter how hard I try.”

 “Forget it; it’s too late for that now. Back when I actually got hurt there was nobody there to heal me, so I’m just gonna have to live with that scar.”

Leo had the vague sense that this was about more than just a physical injury, but he didn’t want to pry into that right now. They had more pressing matters at hand.

“Alright, but then let me have another look at your eyes. Maybe I’ll be able to heal them now, too.”

Despite Leo’s best efforts, however, he wasn’t able to restore Chris’ vision. After a few minutes and several unsuccessful attempts, the young whitelighter was starting to have enough of it.

“Stop it! That’s enough. You realise that it doesn’t work, right? Just give it up!”

“But, Chris, Leo is only trying to help you.”

“I know that he’s trying, Piper, but he isn’t actually helping. My eyes aren’t getting any better, not at all.”

Phoebe, Paige and Leo all backed away a little when Chris suddenly jumped to his feet, but Piper grabbed his arm to get the young man to sit down again. But to no avail.

Chris had gotten up and was now trying to go into the direction of the door, although that proved to be everything but easy with Piper still holding onto his arm. Added to that came the problem that he wasn’t even sure if he wasn’t really headed towards a wall or the windows.

“Piper, let me go!” He wanted to shake his mother’s hand off, but then a sudden dramatic change of his environment pushed everything into the background.

He could see again.

They were in the attic, as Piper had said and everything was illuminated with bright sunlight. Chris was standing close to the door and Piper was kneeling in front of him, busy picking up the shards of a broken vase.

_When exactly did that happen? I was blind, but not deaf._

Now Leo came over and started to help Piper, while Paige and Phoebe were skimming through the Book of Shadows, obviously searching for something.

“Chris, you really should let us help you. I’m sure we’ll find a way to cure you, but until then you’ll just have to rely on us.” Phoebe hadn’t looked up from the book, but she apparently thought that he was still blind, so that wasn’t very surprising.

The expression on Chris’ face turned from slightly to extremely confused. What was going on here? Why was he suddenly able to see again?

There were several other things that didn’t make sense, but the sudden appearance of a demon behind Paige and Phoebe claimed all of his attention instantly.

“Watch out!” The sisters and Leo all looked up from what they were doing, but before anyone had a chance to react, the demon had already seized its chance and thrown a fireball at the witch still kneeling on the ground. Just as the projectile hit her, though, the world around Chris disappeared once more in darkness.

“Piper!”

“What?” The witch looked up at the young man, startled by the urgency in his voice.

“A demon, there’s a demon over at the window.” As, much to his horror, Chris wasn’t able to see anything once again, he just motioned wildly in the direction where he suspected the window.

“Calm down, there’s nobody there. And how do you even want to know that?”

“Because I saw him. After all he just attacked you!” Silence followed these words and Chris didn’t have to be able to see to know that the sisters were exchanging confused and concerned glances. They probably thought he was going crazy now.

Paige did her best to get the situation back to normal.

“I think we should look into the Book of Shadows and see if we can’t find a way to heal your eyes. What do you think, Phoebe?”

“Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll help you.”

Chris could hear how the two of them went over to the book. He still had no clue what was going on, but he didn’t like the way things were proceeding at all.

Taking advantage of the general confusion, Chris finally pulled away from Piper’s grasp and made a few steps to get some distance to her. He stopped a second later when he ran into the edge of a table and felt immediately that he had knocked something over.

There was a weird sound of something getting into motion and after only a short moment that motion ended with a loud crash on the ground directly beside the young man’s feet.

He could hear how somebody, most likely Piper, came over and kneeled down beside him.

“Be careful, Chris. You knocked over a vase and now there are shards everywhere. Just stay where you are for now.”

Somebody else, judging by the heavy footsteps it was Leo, walked over, too, and started to help Piper, causing Chris’ discomfort to turn into a full-blown panic.

“Chris, you really should let us help you. We’ll surely find a way to cure you, but until then you just will have to rely on us.”

Even if he hadn’t recognised her voice, Chris would have known that this was Phoebe talking.

“Phoebe, Paige, get over here! A demon is going to appear over there any second now; you just have to trust me, please!”

Still confused by Chris’ words, but alarmed by the urgency and panic in them, the two witches complied and walked over to stand beside Chris. The Charmed Ones and Leo all continued to stare at the Book of Shadows and the space behind it, curious to see if anything would happen.

Sure enough it were only a few moments, until a demon materialised there. He had obviously expected to find the witches unprepared and was all the more surprised to see them waiting for him. The surprise lasted only about half a second, though; exactly the time it took for Piper to blow the demon up.

Chris could tell that everyone present was staring at him now, even though he couldn’t see them.

“How did you know that?”

 

* * *

 

“So, you’re blind, but you can see the future? Did I get that about right?” Paige glanced rather confused from Chris to the others, looking for confirmation. In the end it was the young whitelighter who answered.

“Yes, that’s what it appears to be.”

“Wow. Well at least that’s something.”

“Paige!”

“What, Phoebe? Of course I want him to be able to see again, but honestly, Chris really saved our butts just now. We would have been done for had he not warned us in time.”

“Piper.”

“What about me?” The witch in question asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You would have been done for. The demon wanted to attack you,” Chris explained.

“Oh, not again. I can’t even turn around anymore without some demon standing behind me. As soon as we’ve fixed you, we’ll really have to do something about this.”

Piper gently laid a hand on Chris’ shoulder, trying to cheer him up. His expression actually lit up slightly in light of her concern. It was Phoebe’s voice, however, that quickly reminded him once more how grim his situation was right now.

“Then there’s just the question of how we do that. There’s no mention of this in the book, neither how Chris’ condition is even possible, nor what we can do about it. Do you have any ideas, Leo?” Phoebe looked at the Elder expectantly, but he hesitated a few seconds until finally speaking.

“There has to be a connection to the spell Chris used.” He looked directly at the young whitelighter now, even though he was aware that he didn’t notice it.

“You have to tell us which one you used, or I don’t think we’ll be able to help you.”

Panic started to built in the young man, but he didn’t have time to think of an answer, as he was already back in the middle of a time shift.

He, Piper and Phoebe were still sitting on the couch with Leo and Paige standing in front of them, but now everyone’s attention was fixated on the Book of Shadows.

A strong wind was sweeping through its pages until it suddenly stopped and stayed open at a certain page. Piper was the first to shake off her surprise and walk over to the book, closely followed by her sisters.

“It’s been forever since it last did that,” the oldest sister remarked quietly.

The Charmed Ones gathered in front of the Book of Shadows and looked down at the open page, an expression on their faces that Chris was unable to read.

With a strangely monotone voice, Piper began to read.

“To see your own future.” She looked up from the text and right into Chris’ eyes before continuing.

“This spell calls upon the powers of the Halliwells.”

**To be continued**


	6. New Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now the events of ‘The Legend Of Sleepy Halliwell’ have happened, except the shaman, of course. The sister, Leo and Chris know about Magic School, but Gideon doesn’t know yet that Wyatt is going to turn evil and isn’t planning anything against him.

_With a strangely monotone voice, Piper began to read._

_“To see your own future.” She looked up from the text and right into Chris’ eyes before continuing._

_“This spell calls upon the powers of the Halliwells.”_

 

Chris was speechless, but before he even had the time to think of any kind of reaction, his premonition or whatever this was was over and he was back in the here and now, which also meant that he was blind again.

He was sure that like the last time he would only have little time to prevent what he’d seen from happening. The sisters couldn’t find out who he really was; not now and especially not like this.

The look on Piper’s face after she had read the text from the Book of Shadows had hit the young whitelighter unexpectedly hard. There had been shock, of course, but also several other emotions, most prominently disappointment. The instant their eyes had met, Chris had felt like he had betrayed her.

All of a sudden he became aware of the silence in the room and remembered that Leo had wanted to know about the spell he had used. As Chris knew that the Book of Shadows would show it to them anyway, lying was obviously out of the question. But maybe he could at least tweak the truth a little.

“I used a spell from the book. It was meant to see into one’s own future, but since it’s the time I’m from, I thought it would work anyway. There was a part about the powers of the Halliwells which I left out, of course, and then I changed the rest of it in my head. But after what happened, I’m having trouble remembering how exactly.”

Chris let his head hang, but lifted it again immediately when he heard one of the others standing up and going over to the Book of Shadows. It was Piper, as he now learned by her voice.

“It will probably help if we know the spell anyway. I’m going to look for it.” She suddenly halted in her steps, however, as Chris could hear a strong air draft and the rustling of paper.

"It's been forever since it last did that." The oldest of the witches commented, obviously baffled, before she continued to go over to the book, her sisters following.

“What is it?”

“That’s got to be the spell you used, Chris. It really calls upon the powers of the Halliwells and is supposed to show a person’s own future. But I’m afraid it’s not going to be of much use without knowing how it’s been changed.”

“So are you saying there’s nothing we can do to help Chris?” Paige looked at her older sister incredulously.

“I mean, it’s dangerous enough in this house even if one can see, but blind? He’s not going to last a day!”

“Hey! I’m right here, you know?” Chris protested, but the witches preferred to ignore their whitelighter nevertheless.

“Paige is right, Piper. We can’t give up this easily,” Phoebe now agreed with her younger sister.

“And I never said anything about giving up,” Piper pointed out. “But you’re right, Paige, it really is far too dangerous for Chris to stay here. We should probably get him to Magic School, where it’s safe.”

The young whitelighter had listened to the debate concerning him rather calmly up to this point, but now he’d had enough of it. The sisters and Leo flinched visible when a table lamp suddenly exploded loudly. The anger that had pent up in Chris was making his powers go haywire.

“That’s enough, okay? I’m sitting right over here, just in case you’ve already forgotten, and only because _I_ can’t see _you_ , it doesn’t give you the right to go on and pretend I’m not here. You should have noticed by now that I still have my powers, so I’m not defenceless, damn it! And most importantly, while I’m in this condition, I’m able to see the future. I’ve already saved Piper’s life once; you would be foolish to give up having this ability at hand by sending me to Magic School. So you might wanna rethink this decision.”

The Charmed Ones exchanged a surprised glance at this. Chris’ little rant had caught them all by surprise, but even without speaking a word, they quickly decided what to do next…

 

* * *

 

Chris huffed indignantly as he fell into one of the comfortable armchairs in the library of Magic School. He clearly had overestimated his own powers of persuasion.

On the one hand he was definitely touched by his family’s concern, but on the other hand he still found it stupid of them to bring him here.

Back in the attic, Paige and Phoebe had linked arms with him left and right, pulled him off of the couch and had declared that although it was brave of him to put himself into danger for their sake, they were still the Charmed Ones and could look out for themselves. Piper had agreed to that and insisted that they get him to Gideon immediately, because he would have been in too much danger in the manor.

Now Chris was sitting here and already had the inkling that right now Paige was heading to a date with Richard, Phoebe was on the phone with Jason for hours and Piper was about to meet the fireman or some other guy. Although, now that she knew she was supposed to get back together with Leo, she might cancel her other dates for the time being.

In any case, Chris had the feeling that the sisters were not working on his problem. Why else would they have been in such a hurry to get him out of the house? As long as they were with him, he hadn’t even been in any danger. They were certainly having other plans.

The sudden sound of steps approaching pulled Chris out of his thoughts. Had the young man been able to see, he would probably have been rather confused by the empty room in front of him, as Gideon was once again walking around invisible.

“Oh, Chris, there you are,” the Elder greeted him friendly. “Leo already told me about your situation and of course I will do everything in my power to help you. However, he also told me that a spell you yourself used has caused this. So please explain to me, young man, why none of us Elders, except Leo apparently, had been informed of the fact that you are in fact part witch.”

Chris thought about what he could answer to this. He barely knew Gideon, but then again, he was an Elder; if he couldn’t trust him, then whom could he trust?

“I was afraid you wouldn’t let me become the sister’s whitelighter, if you had known. But even if I don’t have the ability to heal, it’s absolutely vital for the future that I stay close to them, so I couldn’t take any risk.”

“Are you sure that that’s the only reason?”

“What… what do you mean?” Chris cursed himself inwardly for beginning to stutter, but Gideon had caught him completely off guard with this question, and the fact that he couldn’t see the other man’s face wasn’t exactly helping, either.

“I mean, that apart from Patricia Halliwell and her whitelighter, and of course Piper and Leo, there has never before been a lasting relationship of this kind. If you have come here to save Wyatt and not just to stop him, I assume that he has meant quite a lot to you in your time and that on the other hand, added to the powers you have inherited, leads me to believe that you are related to the Halliwells in one way or another.”

Chris didn’t know what to reply to that. A part of him wanted to deny everything and protect his secret, but another part knew that this was probably a unique opportunity. Gideon was certainly very discreet and as an Elder he also knew the dangers of changing the timeline and would not be interested in altering it any further than Chris had already done.

However, the young whitelighter didn’t have to reply anything, as Gideon already continued.

“You could be Phoebe’s son, although I somehow doubt that, as she has never shown any interest in a whitelighter so far. Paige is far more likely to be your mother, or, of course, you are Piper’s son. Wyatt’s brother. Please, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong with this.”

Chris could feel Gideon’s presence right in front of his face now. He knew that the older man was staring right into his eyes, and even without actually seeing it, he found it hard to withstand the glare.

“Nobody can know about this, not the sisters, not Leo and none of the other Elders. You have to give me your word on it.”

“You _are_ Wyatt’s little brother, aren’t you?”

“Your word,” Chris repeated, sounding almost desperate this time.

Gideon hesitated a second, but then he took a firm hold of Chris’ hand.

“So be it. You have my word that nobody will hear as much as a syllable about your ancestry from me. You will tell them yourself when the time is right.”

Chris exhaled audibly and was clearly much more relaxed when he proceeded to answer Gideon’s question.

“Good. And you were right, Wyatt really is my brother. I take it Leo has told you about the seer’s prophecy?”

Gideon nodded, but then remembered the situation and replied with a small “yes”.

“So I tried to find out if she was telling the truth by using a spell that should have shown me the future. But as you can see it didn’t work out quite as planned.” Chris gestured at his eyes and then ran his hand across his face wearily. He was tired.

Gideon seemed to assess his condition accurately, because the next time he spoke his voice was surprisingly gentle.

“You look exhausted. I guess it would be best if you take a rest for a while. Come, I will take you to one of our guestrooms.” He helped Chris to get up and then led him through the various corridors of Magic School, while he continued to talk in a hushed tone.

“I understand why you want to keep your parentage a secret, but ever since I’ve known the sisters I have realised most of all that they don’t like to be fooled. If you’re not careful with all the lies you tell them, you might someday find it hard to convince them of the truth.”

Chris was so tired that he was only half listening to the Elder. The room Gideon took him to was furnished very comfortably and after Chris had dropped down on the bed, it took less than three minutes for him to be sound asleep.

 

* * *

 

Piper looked first over at Phoebe, then at Paige. Both witches had their heads propped up on their hands and were thinking intently, but so far none of them had come up with a sensible idea. The three sisters were sitting on the couch in the living room, while Leo was pacing the floor restlessly. Piper tried to ignore him as well as possible, but that turned out to be much harder than she had anticipated.

“Leo, could you please sit down, you’re driving me insane.”

Either he hadn’t heard her, or he simply chose to ignore her request, but the Elder continued walking anyway. That is until a sudden movement of Piper’s hands stopped him. Completely.

“Piper!”

“What?” the oldest of the sisters replied to Phoebe’s reprimanding call. “I told him to stop it. I just can’t concentrate when he’s pacing like that; it’s driving me nuts. And we need to finally come up with an idea to restore Chris’ eyesight.”

“What do you think he saw?” Paige turned to her sisters, but received only blank looks.

“Who?” Piper asked.

“Chris, of course.”

“When?” Phoebe wanted to know.

“When he was… well, unconscious. He said he remembered something that had happened to him in the future and by the looks of it, he was seriously injured back then. So, obviously, I’m curious about what happened.”

“Perhaps it had something to do with Wyatt and that’s why he didn’t want to tell us.” Phoebe looked over at Piper apologetically.

It couldn’t be easy for a mother to hear that her child would become evil one day. She seemed to be surprisingly composed, however, even as she added another possibility.

“Or it was something about my younger son. Do you think Chris was there when he died? We know so little about the future, but this stupid boy just refuses to tell us anything. How are we supposed to help or even trust him if we don’t know what he’s been through. Horrible things must have happened in his time, but it’s not doing anyone any good to just bottle it all up.”

At this point Piper had to break off as tears threatened to overwhelm her. Phoebe, who was sitting beside her, pulled her sister gently into her arms and hugged her tightly.

“It’s alright, Piper. We’re not gonna allow anything to happen to one of your sons. And we’ll also find a way to help Chris. We know now that something terrible is going to happen, that means we can prevent it. It’s the same as with my visions; if we know something’s going to happen, we can change the future.”

Piper was sobbing heavily now, but Phoebe’s words were giving her some hope again. Maybe everything would end well after all.

 

* * *

 

Chris was dreaming.

_He was lying on a makeshift bed and slowly came to, still feeling dizzy. He let his eyes wander across the room and noticed a small fire crackling in a slightly crumbled fireplace at the opposite wall. The entire room was in a pretty rundown condition, with holes in the wooden floor and the plaster on the walls nearly non-existent, but despite all that it was surprisingly clean and tidy._

_The young whitelighter felt incredibly weak and when he ran a hand across his face, he noticed that there was a thick layer of sweat on his skin._

_A sudden movement at the door caught his attention and he saw a young, dark-haired woman enter the room. She was carrying a bowl of water and a piece of cloth and clearly hadn’t noticed yet that he was awake._

_Chris was absolutely certain to have seen her before, but as he couldn’t remember when and where at the moment, he chose to pretend to still be asleep for awhile._

_The young woman approached the bed now and carefully sat down beside him, trying not to wake him. She doused the cloth in the water and proceeded to wipe Chris’ forehead with it, prompting him to choose this moment to open his eyes. The woman was startled when her patient suddenly stared up at her and he utilized her speechlessness to talk first._

_“I know you. You work for my brother, don’t you?”_

_“My name’s Bianca and if I were loyal to Wyatt, I wouldn’t be here; you know that. But it’s true, until a few days ago I was part of his entourage, until I decided not to let you die in that dungeon.The moment Wyatt finds out I’m the one who freed you, my life won’t be worth a cent.”_

_“Then why did you do it?”_

_“I’m not a demon, I’m a witch. I don’t like what he’s been doing, but I thought it safer to serve Wyatt than to oppose him. But maybe, if we work together, we might have a chance to stop him.”_

_Chris scrutinized her silently until his eyes came to a sudden halt at her wrist._

_“You’re a phoenix-witch.” It was a statement, not a question. “You’re assassins, aren’t you?”_

_“Listen, I’ve done things in my life I’m not proud of, okay? I wish I could make most of it undone, but I can’t.” She took a deep breath before continuing.“When we first ‘met’, if you can call it that, in the museum, I felt a kind of… connection between us. Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t feel it.”_

_Chris held her gaze for a few moments, then answered resolutely._

_“I can’t, ‘cause I felt it, too. I don’t know if we, or anybody really, stand a chance against my brother, but you’re right, we have to at least try. And the next time I will not hesitate.”_

_Bianca smiled and clasped his hand gently, holding it until the whitelighter had fallen asleep once more._

 

* * *

 

It was pitch black around him when Chris woke up. Still half asleep, he fumbled for a bedside lamp as he suddenly recalled the reason for the darkness.

Crestfallen, he led himself fall back onto the cushions, when a voice beside him suddenly almost gave him a heart attack.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Damn it, Paige! You scared me half to death.”

“Oh, excuse me very much, but how am I supposed to know you’re this jumpy.” The witch laughed and got up from the chair she had moved beside the bed.

“I can’t see you, remember? Believe me, you wouldn’t think it funny, either, if I suddenly appeared out of nowhere the moment you wake up.”

“Alright, whatever.”

“Why are you even here?” Chris ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly and tried to straighten it somewhat. Couldn’t she have given him at least a few minutes to wake up properly?

“Piper sent me. She wanted me to ask you if everything is alright and she also gave me some fresh clothes for you.” With that she threw a pile of clothing onto the baffled young man’s lap.

“She also said I should bring the dirty laundry right back.”

Chris understood the implied demand and fought his way out of bed tiredly. After he had shooed Paige out of the room, he began to change slowly. It was harder than expected without being able to see anything, but he was starting to get the hang of it.

Five minutes later, Chris opened the door of his room and handed his dirty clothes to his aunt waiting outside.

“Tell Piper I’m fine, but I hope you’re making some progress in finding a cure or something. I have to be able to see again, or how am I supposed to protect Wyatt?”

“I get that, Chris, but don’t forget that it isn’t our fault you’re blind. Magic isn’t something to be fooled around with.”

Chris had to smile at her words unconsciously. How often had he heard this phrase in his childhood?

“Believe me, Paige, I know that. I’ve had some pretty good teachers in the future.”

The youngest of the Charmed Ones scrutinised the whitelighter in front of her thoughtfully. He had been through more than enough; he truly didn’t need her lecture about the possible consequences of magic. Those he was getting to know first hand at the moment.

Paige laid a hand on Chris’ shoulder encouragingly and tried to sound as optimistic as possible.

“The others and I will come back soon and I’m sure we’ll have good news by then. We’ll find a way to restore your eyesight and until then,” she tousled his somewhat straightened hair to light up the situation a little, “no funny business! Well, I’ll _see_ you.” She smiled sadly as she added a silent, “And you me, I hope,” before orbing away.

Chris stayed in the corridor for a few minutes after Paige had vanished, the tinkling sound of orbing still in his ears. As he stood there, he could have sworn that he had seen white-blue light glistening in the darkness for a brief second.

**To be continued…**


	7. Powerless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I remember correctly, it was the 7th season of Charmed when we were finally given some more information about Magic School. As I have written these chapters originally years ago, before that season aired here, I had very little to work with and just made a lot of background information up. Seeing as I really like that part of my story, I’ve decided to keep it, but I just wanted to say that I realise it contradicts the show.

“I give up! There’s nothing in the book we could use to heal him.” Piper slammed the Book of Shadows shut with a loud thud and then let out a long sigh. “I just don’t know what to do and I hate being this powerless.”

Leo went over to the witch and laid his hands gently on her shoulders.

“Don’t think like that, Piper! You’re not powerless and you never have been. Ok, there’s nothing useful in the book, so what? That doesn’t mean that even one of us has to give up.”

Piper savoured the feeling of Leo’s strong hands on her shoulders and actually began to relax a little. How much she had missed this…

But after only a moment she straightened herself again, prompting Leo to remove his hands again. There were more important things to take care of right now.

“You’re right. I’ll try writing a counter-spell to the one in the book.”

“I thought Chris had changed it,” Leo pointed out.

 Irritated, Piper turned around to him and looked at the Elder exasperatedly.

“I know that, too, alright? But do you have a better idea? If so, then let me hear it; I’m open to any suggestion.” The oldest of the Charmed Ones was now standing only inches away from Leo, glaring at him.

The Elder didn’t answer her right away, not really knowing what to say. It wasn’t as if he didn’t share Piper’s wish to help Chris, and yet, he couldn’t fully grasp why she was getting this emotional about the young man’s condition now. Before he had the chance to come up with an idea of his own, though, Piper’s anger suddenly dissipated and made way for an even more startling sadness.

“It’s just… things seem to be getting worse, no matter what we do. In the future we weren’t able to save Wyatt from turning evil, we weren’t able to save my second son’s life and now Chris is the one who has to suffer because of it. That means we’re responsible and we’ll have to fix this. But what if we can’t?” A single tear ran down Piper’s cheek at this point, but the witch quickly wiped it away.

Finally understanding his ex-wife’s feelings, Leo acted without thinking and pulled her into his arms gently. He held Piper close, not even entirely sure if the gesture was meant to reassure her or himself.

“Don’t worry. We _will_ fix this and everything is going to be alright. I promise.”

“How can you promise something like that?” Piper looked up at the Elder with tear-stained eyes. How could he be so sure?

“Because I know that you and your sisters will find a way. You have always managed to find a solution to whatever problem you were facing and that isn’t going to change now.”

The two looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Piper had missed Leo’s encouraging words so much. And the way he held her in his arms…

Obviously, the Elder had still spent a lot of time at the manor, even after their break-up, but it hadn’t been the same. Not like this. Just by looking into Leo’s eyes now, the witch knew that he felt similarly.

While they were still gazing at each other, their faces unconsciously moved closer. When only a few inches separated their lips, Piper hesitated briefly. After all, they were officially separated. But then she decided to just throw all caution to the wind and kissed Leo passionately. She wrapped her arms around the Elder and deepened the kiss even more.

It was like an eternity for both of them as they stood together, until Paige suddenly interrupted the situation. The young witch had orbed into the attic without either her sister or Leo noticing.

“Uh, hey guys. Am I interrupting?”

 

* * *

 

Chris was holding onto Sigmund’s arm, as the two of them were slowly walking through the halls of Magic School. As lunch break was almost over, young witches and warlocks were passing them constantly and the whitelighter had the strong impression that there wasn’t a more interesting topic for them at the moment than him. Everywhere they seemed to be whispering about him. He suspected that the students were busying themselves with inventing the most adventurous stories about how he had lost his vision, because surely no one had told them the truth and now it was left to their imagination to find an answer.

Sigmund had insisted that Chris shouldn’t spend all day in his room, and so had persuaded him to take a walk. However, by now the young whitelighter wasn’t so sure anymore that this had been a good idea. At first it had been nice to stretch his legs, but the more the school had come to life, the more everything had started to grate on his nerves.

Ever since he had gone blind, he had started to rely more on his other senses, like hearing, but in this crowd that wasn’t of any use. Not too long ago, one of the students had barged into him so forcefully, that Chris would have fallen to the ground, had it not been for Sigmund’s help.

Now, whether it was because the wizard had finally noticed how uncomfortable he was, or simply by pure coincidence, they were headed towards a less frequented part of school.

“This is the dining hall for students and teachers. Lunch is over, so there’s no one here anymore, but I will go to the kitchen and see if they don’t have something left for us anyway. I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use a bite to eat. I’m actually nearly starving.” Sigmund led Chris to one of the tables so the younger man could sit down. Judging by the echo of their steps, the hall had to be enormous. Today’s number of students certainly didn’t even nearly fill it.

It were only a few minutes until the wizard came back with two plates, but although Chris was really hungry by now it took him forever to finally eat something. Working with a knife and fork without actually seeing what you were doing was far more difficult than he had expected. The young whitelighter could only hope that the sisters would arrive soon, and with a cure this time. Even thinking about the possibility that his condition might be permanent was making him sick.

Sigmund tried to lighten the mood with a conversation, but Chris wasn’t exactly the best dialogue partner at the moment.

“Did you know that this school has existed for over one thousand years now?”

“No.”

“Well, yes, it has.”

“Interesting.”

Sigmund appeared to be one of those people who didn’t recognise sarcasm, even if it hit them right in the face.

“Very interesting indeed. Gideon is its 61st headmaster and has been for over two hundred years. That is indisputably the longest term in office so far, although one has to consider that Gideon is the only Elder who has ever led this school. The other headmasters before him have only been ordinary witches and wizards, although I don’t mean to say that they have been ordinary people. Quite the contrary actually; among them have been some of the most extraordinary witches and wizards who have ever lived.”

Chris’ thoughts began to wander, while the Sigmund continued to illustrate the history of Magic School, its most important headmasters and the different magical characteristics of its architecture. He was so wrapped up in his discourse that he paid little mind to his companion.

The young whitelighter unconsciously asked himself how long he would have to stay here. Although everyone was very friendly towards him and there were certainly worse places to spent time, he just wanted to go back home. This whole situation was confusing enough for him, and he longed at least for a place that was familiar.

All of a sudden Leo’s words after the attack on Piper, when he hadn’t been able to stand being in the manor anymore, came back to him. His father had told him to come back home and that he was part of the family now. There were no words to describe how much that had meant to him.

Ever since Chris had come to this time there had been several problems with the sisters and Leo, but now it seemed as if they had finally accepted him and that they even liked him. It was as if he was finally having a family again, after all these years.

 

* * *

 

Paige had just told Piper and Leo about her visit to Magic School, all the while a small smile was playing on her lips as she watched the two exchange hidden glances repeatedly. She had always hoped that her sister and their former whitelighter would get back together and now their mutual concern for Chris seemed to be achieving just that. It was quite astounding, actually, that the young man from the future, who had caused their break-up in the first place, was now responsible for their reunion.

“Why are you grinning like that?” Piper had her arms crossed in front of her chest and was staring at her younger sister challengingly.

“Me? I’m not, or is there anything worth grinning about?”

This reply left the older witch feeling completely dumbfounded and she noticed a light heat rushing into her cheeks. But she pulled herself back together immediately.

“No, of course not!”

“Oh, really? Well, my mistake then.” Paige smiled at her sister and Leo one last time, before her expression got serious again and she returned to the real issue at hand. Chris.

“You know, I don’t think Chris is very happy that we shunted him off to Magic School.”

“We didn’t shunt him off. You know as well as all of us that in this house there can be an attack at any moment and it’s just safer for him this way.”

“Piper is right. We can’t simply rely on Chris seeing any attack in advance and we can’t watch him every second, either,” Leo added, but the young witch shook her head dissentingly.

“But you do realise that you’re putting Piper in danger with this, right? After all Chris has foreseen an attack on _her_ and it was certainly not the last we have to expect.”

Leo wasn’t sure what to answer to that. Just a few weeks ago he probably wouldn’t have hesitated to put the young whitelighter in danger, if it had served Piper’s safety, but now things were different. Chris had opened up to them a lot lately and he had proven his concern not just for Wyatt, but also especially for Piper more than enough. He was protecting the two people that meant everything to Leo and had thereby become a part of his family, too. As much as the Elder was worried about the love of his life, he couldn’t put Chris in danger with a clear conscience.

Piper seemed to feel similarly, because it was her who now answered Paige.

“You want to protect me, fair enough, but it’s okay to put Chris’ life on the line for that?”

Now it was Paige’s turn to blush.

“That’s, ehm… well… no. No, of course it’s not, you’re right. It’s just that the demons have never targeted one of us specifically for such a long time. At some point everyone makes a mistake, even you, and I’m just afraid that they will manage to catch you off guard.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Paige, but I’m doing fine and it’s not like I’m alone in this, right? I know my family’s watching out for me.”

Piper looked to her side, startled, when Leo suddenly took her hand and looked at her encouragingly.

“Yes, we’re here. And I promise you that we won’t let you down.”

Still a little surprised by this unexpected gesture, the witch turned back to her younger sister.

“See?”

 

* * *

 

_A board in the floor creaked when the blond young man stepped on it. He had been here for a while now and started pacing slowly, trying to clear his thoughts. He was nervous. He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this; it was probably the first time now._

_Things were changing. It wasn’t just his own emotional state that worried him, but his environment was changing, too._

_He couldn’t have pinpointed anything specific, but he was sure that the world was different than it had been a few weeks ago. Surely no-one except him had noticed it so far, but then again, nobody had such a keen sense for magic as him. Nobody._

_Up here in the attic he hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary, so he continued to go downstairs into the formerly inhabited part of the house. When he came to the living room, he halted in front of a shelf full of photos and looked closely at the smiling people in them without feeling any emotions himself. Most of the pictures showed the faces of three young women, a blond man and an equally blond boy. He looked at them for a moment, but when he wanted to turn away and continue his stroll, something made him pause once more._

_He turned back to the pictures, but this time he was only interested in a rather small one standing further in the back, nearly hidden by the other photos._

_He took it in his hand and the emotionless expression on his face was replaced by unconcealed fury. A loud crash sounded when he threw the picture to the ground and the glass scattered in all directions._

_Before he orbed away he glared for one last time at the smiling faces looking up at him from the ground. The three women, the man and the blond boy were there, but beside the woman with the long brown hair there was another child. She had wrapped her arms around the maybe ten year old boy and was smiling as proudly as only a mother could._

 

* * *

 

Chris was lying on his bed in the guestroom he was occupying in Magic School and was letting his thoughts stray. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping, but it didn’t make a difference to him if they were open or closed, anyway. There was always darkness around him.

The whitelighter sighed wearily. In this condition he was completely useless. He had come to this time to protect Wyatt, but how was he supposed to do that if he couldn’t even protect himself?

The seer must have made a mistake with her prophecy; it was unimaginable that he would ever be stronger than Wyatt. His brother would never have made such a disastrous mistake while using a spell. Not Wyatt, the mighty twice-blessed.

Chris sat up in bed and wanted to swing his legs across the edge when he suddenly felt extremely dizzy. He tried to grab the corner of the bed to steady himself, but the wood of the frame seemed to slip away from right underneath his fingers. His vision had returned, but the colours around him were swirling and made it impossible to make out any details.

It only were a few seconds until everything had settled again. The young man looked around and realised that he wasn’t in Magic School anymore, but back in the Halliwell Manor, in the kitchen to be exact. As the last time shift hadn’t shown him a demon attack, but just prevented his identity from being discovered, Chris wasn’t sure what to expect now.

He moved through the house carefully, but at least on this floor there was nobody there. Finally, it was Paige’s voice coming from the hall that caught his attention. Chris went to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at his aunt who was coming down the steps right now. She was talking to someone on the first floor, probably Piper, but he couldn’t tell for sure.

The whitelighter had expected the young woman to be very surprised to see him here, but even as she came down the last steps, she didn’t appear to have noticed him. Chris wanted to step aside to let Paige pass, but in that moment she had already walked through him as if he consisted of nothing but thin air.

Startled, Chris looked down at himself, but his body made a perfectly solid impression. He figured that since he was actually in Magic School and not, as during the last time shifts, at the place he saw in the future, this had to be some kind of astral projection, without anybody being able to see him.

Chris turned around to see where the youngest of the Charmed Ones was going and saw how she vanished into the kitchen. For a moment he was rooted to the spot. Where should he go? Follow Paige or go up to where his mother supposedly was?

After a few seconds he made his decision to go upstairs; down here there was no-one but Paige and he wanted to know how his mother and Wyatt were doing.

When Chris entered Wyatt’s bedroom, he found his brother sleeping peacefully. It was strange in a way; for months he had been here, worrying about who might want to harm the young boy, and now that things were heating up, it was his own existence in peril, not Wyatt’s.

As everything in here seemed to be alright, though, the whitelighter went on searching for Piper and finally found her in the attic together with Leo. She had put up a kettle and was busy concocting a potion while her former husband sat on the couch, watching her.

Chris realised with surprise that Piper glanced at the Elder repeatedly, a strangely excited expression on her face. He didn’t know why, but he had the strong feeling that there was something going on between his parents. _Finally!_ He remained standing in the door and watched the two with a smile on his face, leaning against the doorframe.

Was it this he had been meant to see? If Piper and Leo were back together, he would certainly find out soon enough, there was no time shift necessary for that. No, he had to be here for something else.

Chris watched the attic anxiously and let his eyes wander through every corner. Maybe there was already a demon in the room, hidden and waiting to attack at an opportune moment. He could only hope that the wooden floor would betray anyone who tried to sneak around here invisibly.

A few minutes passed and the young whitelighter had just started to relax when he suddenly made out a faint noise in the silence. It sounded as if something under tension was being pulled, a string drawn back.

For a heartbeat Chris couldn’t quite place the sound, but then it hit him. A crossbow. A darklighter had to be here.

Even though Chris knew it would be futile, he wanted to shout a warning, but then everything suddenly happened very quickly.

Neither Piper nor Leo had so far realised the danger they were in, but when they heard a strange creaking noise they both looked up startled and the Elder got up from the couch. Before they could do anything, however, a pained scream sounded from downstairs, Paige’s voice being unmistakeable. Everybody’s eyes went to the door and this moment of diversion was everything the so far hidden assassin needed.

The darklighter appeared out of nowhere and although Chris screamed loudly to warn his parents, nobody reacted until it was too late. The young man’s eyes widened as he watched his father getting hit by a crossbow bolt square in the chest. The two of them had never been close, but Chris froze at the prospect of losing him, especially now that their relationship was improving.

Leo fell to the ground immediately and Chris was at his side in an instant. After Piper had blown up the darklighter, she too kneeled down beside the Elder. She had tears in her eyes and the young whitelighter could see why. The bolt had hit Leo’s heart. He looked up at Piper for a second, his eyes glazed, but before he even managed to utter a single word, his head rolled to the side. Leo was dead.

Piper buried her face in her hands and cried silently, but after only a few moments she got back up again. She went over to the door and down the stair and Chris couldn’t help but ask himself what could possibly be more important now than Leo, but then he remembered and immediately felt ashamed for forgetting.

Paige! She had cried out in pain and was probably hurt badly or maybe even worse. The whitelighter followed his mother down the stairs, but before they were even one floor down, his surroundings started to blur again.

After a few seconds he was back on his bed in Magic School, but he still felt dizzy. As he had been in the process of sitting up before the time shift, his position wasn’t exactly stable and in the darkness that surrounded him once more, he couldn’t find the edge of the bed right away. And so, with a dull thud and several expletives, the young man landed in a heap on the floor.

 

* * *

 

“Gideon!” Chris ran through the halls of Magic School, constantly tracing one hand across the wall to not lose his orientation completely. He had to get back home to warn his father and the sisters, but he was still blind and wouldn’t be of much use in a fight. Added to that came the fact that Leo and Paige were attacked almost simultaniously and he couldn’t be everywhere at once.

“Gideon!” Once again, even louder this time, he called the name of the Elder. Why didn’t he hear him? Time was running out for him and especially for his father.

“Gideon!” A few minutes had passed already since his time shift and Chris was starting to get afraid that he would be too late. If this stupid Elder didn’t show up immediately, he would have to go alone.

“Chris, what in the world is going on here? Why are you screaming like that?”

“I’ve just experienced another time shift. Leo and Paige get attacked almost simultaneously in the manor, but she’s in the kitchen and he’s in the attic. I can’t warn them both. You have to orb to Paige and save her, now!”

Gideon looked at the young man, startled, but before he managed to reply anything, Chris had already vanished in a swirl of blue orbs.

 

* * *

 

Piper was standing in the attic of her home, busy preparing a potion for Chris. She kept hoping that self-made concoction would be able to help him, although she knew the chances weren’t very high. Her efforts were further impeded by the constant distraction Leo was posing at the moment, because even when Piper wasn’t looking his way, she knew that the Elder was silently watching her.

They had barely exchanged a word since their kiss and the tension in the room was palpable now. Every now and then Piper turned around to the Elder and their eyes met, but she knew that she had to concentrate. There would be plenty of time later.

A few moments later, a strange noise distracted her again. It sounded familiar and even though it was too quiet to place it correctly, it was still enough to alert the witch. Leo had obviously heard it too, because he now got up from his seat, but before he could say anything, everything was suddenly happening so fast, it was hard to keep up. In the same moment as the loud scream of a man could be heard from downstairs, Piper saw a swirling light appear directly beside Leo.

 

* * *

 

When Chris reappeared, the only thing he was certain about was being in the attic. Hopefully he wasn’t too late. He had heard a scream from downstairs – this time not from Paige, but a man – and he could only hope that it had been the attacker and not Gideon.

Chris had just materialised completely and was about to warn his parents of the imminent danger, when an unbearable pain suddenly pierced his back. He must have orbed right between Leo and the darklighter and the latter hadn’t noticed him in time and fired his crossbow anyway.

The young whitelighter wanted to cry out, but only a constricted gasp managed to escape his throat. The bolt must have pierced his lung, as he wasn’t even able to breathe properly anymore. Struggling for air, Chris fell to his knees and only at the edge of his consciences did he hear the explosion and the short scream when Piper made the darklighter explode.

He was beginning to feel lightheaded and briefly wondered if it could already be because of the lack of oxygen, seeing as he was only having trouble breathing for a few seconds. Then, however, he remembered that darklighter arrows were poisoned and that this poison was now spreading through his body. Maybe it was just the pain clouding his mind, but even though Chris had been injured by a darklighter before, he couldn’t actually recall the poison working this quickly.

The thought escaped him again as he could feel several hands grabbing his shoulders now, trying to prevent him from falling to the ground completely. Someone laid their hands on his face now and lifted his head carefully.

“Chris, can you hear me?” Piper asked, her voice filled with concern.

Not able to speak, he only nodded slightly.

“Leo will heal you, but we have to remove the bolt first. Try not to move, okay?”

The young man nodded again and tried to brace himself for the impending pain.

The voices around him were getting fuzzier, as if somebody had filled his ears with cotton balls, but Chris could hear Leo getting ready to pull the projectile out. Before he had even touched it, however, Piper interrupted him suddenly.

“Wait!”

“Why, what is it?”

“The bolt is poisoned, but it only works against whitelighters and Elders, right? I think it would be better if I pulled it out.”

Leo hesitated a moment, but ultimately agreed.

“Okay, fine.”

Chris vaguely noticed his parents changing positions and that it was Leo who was now steadying him. The immense pain that was still coursing through his entire body and the dazed feeling that was spreading from the poison had exhausted him so thoroughly, that he wasn’t even able to stay in a kneeling position on his own anymore.

His father had wrapped his arms around him to keep him in an upright position so Piper could pull out the bolt.

“Hold it tightly and then pull as hard as you can.”

The witch only briefly acknowledged the instruction as she readied herself.

“Alright, on three. One… two.”

To make sure it was over as soon as possible, Piper already pulled at ‘two’, but that didn’t make it any easier. The ragged scream that erupted from Chris’ lips was so full of agony that Piper felt as if her heart was about to break. Even though she wasn’t the one who had shot him, it was her who was now causing him so much pain.

As Piper pulled the bolt out, Chris’ body tensed completely and his hands clenched behind Leo’s back. But as intense as the pain had been, as quickly it was over.

The moment Piper was holding the poisoned bolt in her hands, the young man’s body relaxed once more until it became completely limb. Chris had lost consciousness and was now only held up by Leo who lowered him to the ground carefully to heal his wound.

The Elder held his hands above the whitelighter’s back, but it took extremely long for the wound to finally start to heal. Leo’s expression tensed in concentration as he had to use nearly all of his power until he managed to heal Chris completely.

Piper looked at him confused when Leo sat on the ground, clearly exhausted.

“What’s wrong?”

The Elder shook his head, unsure.

“I don’t know why, but it was much harder than it should have been to heal him.”

“I think I have the answer to that mystery.”

Startled, Leo and Piper turned to the door where Gideon had just appeared and was looking at them knowingly. Behind him, Paige was standing and tried to look past the headmaster of Magic School to see what had happened in the room.

After the two Elders had carried Chris over to the couch, they and the two witches gathered, with everyone’s attention directed at Gideon. He let his eyes wander across the room for a moment, before finally starting an explanation.

“I have been hearing rumours for quite a while now about a new poison the darklighters are developing. It is said to be absolutely lethal to all whitelighters and also Elders, of course. Once applied, it can not be cured.” Gideon clearly wanted to continue, but was interrupted by Paige.

“We’re lucky they haven’t finished it yet, then.”

“I’m afraid that is where you are wrong, Paige.”

“What?” the others asked simultaneously.

“Is that supposed to mean that Chris will…” Piper looked over at the young man, who was still lying motionless.

“No, it is not. The fact that Chris is only part whitelighter, but also part witch has saved his life for now. Although I do not know if the poison has already been removed from his body or not. We will only know for sure if he will live when he wakes up.”

“And if there’s still some of the poison in his blood? Is there no way to neutralise it?” Paige looked at the Elder hopefully, but was already expecting the worst.

“I am afraid not. Leo has healed him as far as possible. It is now up to Chris if he can fight off any potential residue of the poison, or not. Depending on how strong the witch side of him is, or if the whitelighter part dominates. There is nothing more we can do for him.”

All eyes were now directed at Chris, who was still lying on the couch and they noticed with horror that a thin layer of sweat had formed on the young man’s forehead and that his face was scrunched up as if he was in intense pain.

**To be continued…**


	8. Farewell

Phoebe was leaning against the attic wall, watching the whitelighter, who was still lying on the couch, unconscious. She had been in her office until now to finish her column in time, and had only now learned about what had happened.

She shook her head over the young man’s rashness. Hadn’t they sent him to Magic School to keep him safe? And yet, now he was lying here and nobody knew if he was even going to live to see another day. What had he been thinking, orbing here alone, blind, even though he knew that a darklighter was in the attic. He could hardly have done anything more stupid. Or more heroic.

The empath wiped a hand across her eyes, as, without her being able to stop it, tears had started to gather in them. If Chris hadn’t materialised at the critical moment, Leo would have been hit by the darklighter arrow, which would have meant his certain death. Paige had told her about the new poison the darklighters were using, which was absolutely lethal to whitelighters. The young man from the future was only still alive because, in contrast to Leo, he was half witch.

“Still no change?”

Phoebe flinched slightly as Piper suddenly entered the attic.

The oldest of the sisters frowned slightly as she stopped to look over at Chris. Their whitelighter was apparently making it a habit to sustain not-healable injuries and to slowly recover from them up here. If only she could be angry at him for that, but his second habit, saving the lives of her and her family was making that impossible.

Without Chris, both Leo and Paige would have been killed today, as the younger witch had also been attacked by a darklighter, and only Gideon’s interference had prevented her from getting hurt as well.

“No, he still hasn’t woken up,” Phoebe finally replied, prompting Piper to focus on her younger sister now and realise that she was trying hard to conceal the tears in her eyes. Touched by this sight, Piper went over to her and hugged the empath tightly.

“I’m sure Chris is going to be alright. After all, he’s part witch and you know that nothing can keep us witches down that easily.”

Phoebe interrupted the hug and held her sister at arm’s length.

“What happened to you that you’re this optimistic all of a sudden?”

Piper smiled sheepishly and tried to avoid Phoebe’s gaze when she answered.

“I just realized that you can never give up hope, even if you think something is already gone for good. Miracles can still happen.”

There was a tinkling sound that caught the sisters’ attention and they watched as Leo orbed into the room. He had been to the other Elders with Gideon to inform them about the new threat. He looked at Piper and returned her smile, causing Phoebe to stare at him in shock.

“Oh oh oh, I’m getting some pretty strong emotions here. Now I get it, you can never give up hope, right?” She looked at Piper knowingly and even winked at her, much to the embarrassment of the older witch.

“Ok, Phoebe. Hey, didn’t you just tell me that you wanted to help Paige downstairs in the kitchen? You know, with that thing?”

“What thing?”

“Well, _that_ thing.” Sometimes Piper really marvelled how her sister could be this slow on the uptake. But then the penny finally dropped at last.

“Oh, you mean that _thing_? Yeah, right, I had wanted to help her with that. I’m going downstairs then, so if anything should come up, or you need anything…” While she went towards the door, the witch turned around to Leo and her sister several times, although the latter was wearing an expression that told her all too clearly to get the hell out already.

The instant Phoebe had vanished through the door, Piper wanted to fall into the Elder’s arms, but he was strangely uptight.

“Piper, I…”

“Later!” she whispered softly and silenced Leo with a kiss while wrapping her arms around his neck. He responded to the kiss for a moment, but then he pulled back from her embrace and pushed the witch gently away.

“Piper, please, this is important.”

“Alright, shoot!”

“Gideon and I have informed the other Elders about the new poison the darklighters are using and it was decided that all whitelighters and especially all Elders have to stay up there for the time being until we know how to react to this.” After a second’s hesitation he added, “I just came back to say goodbye.”

Completely overwhelmed by this news, Piper pulled back from Leo completely and stared at him, dumbfounded.

“So that means you’re leaving again? And here I thought that we were actually getting closer again, or did I just imagine that?”

“No, you didn’t, but I think that the concern of the others is justified. Maybe it wasn’t even a coincidence that the darklighters choose me as their first target for the poison. Maybe they were also here because of the prophecy and know, or at least suspect, that I’m going to be the child’s father. If I stay here I’ll only put you all in additional danger; you see how badly that can end.” He gestured in the direction of Chris, who had been moving restlessly for a while now, as if he was having a bad dream.

 

* * *

 

_He was back in the alley. After the sisters had futilely tried to make contact with Leo, he had had to tell them that the Elder had been missing for some time now._

_Well, he was missed by everyone, but himself. After all, it had been him who had banished Leo to Valhalla in the first place and he was not exactly sad about his father’s absence. In the future, the Elder had always acted as if he was omniscient and the young whitelighter enjoyed it very much to see him being this clueless in this time. He was well aware that Leo might suspect him to be the one who had sent him to Valhalla, but it didn’t matter what the Elder thought of him._

_However, the witches would not rest until they had found their former whitelighter and that could jeopardise all of Chris’ plans. Now he had to make sure that they would find Leo as soon as possible, so they could get back to hunting the demon that was responsible for Wyatt’s change._

_Chris could still remember his words after his failed attempt to stop Wyatt. He had promised Bianca that he would not hesitate again, that he would ruthlessly kill his own brother to save the rest of the world. But he had not expected that he would ever have to kill an innocent for that goal. He wouldn’t have dreamt of it and still that was exactly what he had just done._

_He walked slowly over to the Valkyrie lying on the ground, crouched down next to her and took hold of the pendant she was wearing._

_“Forgive me.” It was not nearly enough to express his grief over his deed, and yet he didn’t know what else to say._

_With a heavy heart he ripped off the pendant for which he had just committed murder and Leysa – Leysa, a name he would never forget – vanished instantaneously. They hadn’t exactly been friends, but she hadn’t seen his betrayal coming. A flick of his wrist and her heart had stopped, that was all it had taken to kill the Valkyrie._

_Chris tried to remind himself that her pendant was the only way for the sisters to get to Valhalla, and that there had been no other way to obtain one, but that didn’t diminish his guilt at all. He had come here to prevent the atrocities of his brother and had become a murderer himself in the process. All he could do now was to get help for the wounded police officer the Valkyrie had come for, and after he had done that he threw a last glance at the spot where his victim had vanished before finally leaving the area._

_But no matter how far he got away, the memory of his actions would always stay with him. One day, his karma would probably catch up with him, and somehow Chris even hoped it would._

 

* * *

 

Piper was standing in Wyatt’s room beside her son’s bed and was watching him sleep when Leo entered. He knocked lightly on the open door to alert her to his presence, but the witch remained with her back to him. She knew he was here to say his final goodbye and she had no idea when she would see him again. It could take forever for the Elders to make a decision; she knew that much from personal experience.

Leo sighed at Piper’s stubborn behaviour, but then walked slowly behind her and laid his arms around her. He knew that she was angry because he had to leave again, but he still wanted to say properly goodbye to her. The Elder could feel the witch tensing in his arms, but she relaxed again after a few seconds.

Without getting out of his embrace, Piper now turned around and wrapped her arms around Leo as well. They just stood like this for a while, until Piper finally broke the silence.

“I understand why you have to go, but…”

“I know. I would rather stay here, too, but it’s simply too dangerous at the moment. I’ve already said goodbye to your sisters and they weren’t happy about me leaving, either, but I won’t be gone forever. Just until we find a way to protect ourselves against this new threat. But you have to promise me something.” With that, he gently took a hold of Piper’s chin and lifted her head until their eyes met.

“If one of you is in danger, even if a darklighter is involved, you have to call for me for help. Promise you won’t hesitate.”

Piper looked at Leo for a long moment, seeing his determination, and nodded slightly in the end.

“I promise.”

As if to seal the promise, the Elder intensified the embrace and pulled the oldest of the Charmed Ones into a passionate kiss. Not willing to part again, both of them forgot everything around them and left Wyatt’s bedroom in the direction of Piper’s.

When the door snapped shut behind them, the little boy woke up from his dreams for a moment, but the muffled sound coming from the other side of the hall didn’t bother him any further. He just turned his head and had fallen back asleep within seconds.

 

* * *

 

Gideon was sitting with his hands folded at his desk in Magic School and was completely lost in thought.  The last few days had proven to be particularly insightful.

Ever since Wyatt’s birth he had felt that such a powerful being shouldn’t exist and the seer’s prophecy had only added to his worries. However, as much as Gideon could understand the efforts the demons were making to prevent the birth of the foretold child, he was also aware of the disastrous consequences that might occur should they succeed. After all, Chris had come into this time to warn them about Wyatt’s turn towards evil, and killing him now even before he was born could affect the course of time in completely unpredictable ways. As an Elder, Gideon was not willing to take that risk.

Although, concerning the adult Chris, things were indeed very different. He obviously wasn’t as powerful yet, as the seer had prophesised, but it was surely just a question of time until his powers would evolve accordingly.

A cold smile appeared on Gideon’s face as he remembered that this problem might actually solve itself soon. After all, the young man had been critically injured by a darklighter and not even his father had been able to heal him. What a shame.

Should he recover against expectations, however, Gideon would make sure that the balance of powers was preserved. He merely had to be careful, as the sisters and Leo could not find out about his intentions.

 

* * *

 

Leo had been sitting with Chris for a few minutes now and was watching him sleep. At first he had only wanted to quickly check on his condition before finally leaving, but then he had moved a chair beside the couch and now he was still here.

Leo laid a hand on the young man’s forehead once again to feel his temperature. His skin was burning up. The Elder took a wet cloth from the water bowl beside the couch and, after wringing it, gently wiped across Chris’ forehead to get him some cooling. The cold touch seemed to startle the young man, because he frowned slightly and after a few seconds slowly began to open his eyes.

The fever that was currently fighting the remains of the poison in his body had worn him out completely, making it impossible for Chris to form any coherent thoughts. He didn’t comprehend why he couldn’t see his surroundings and while he tried to get into a sitting position, he felt around for a lamp to get some light. The whitelighter jumped slightly when somebody took his hand and pushed him gently back onto the couch.

“It’s alright, Chris, it’s just me, Leo. You’ve got a high fever, so it’ll be better if you just lie down and get some more rest.”

The young man had the feeling that his entire head was wrapped in cotton; everything around him sounded strangely muffled and every time he tried to concentrate on something, that thought drifted away from him again immediately. He had almost fallen back asleep, when he slowly turned his head in the direction of Leo’s voice.

“Dad? What are you doing here?”

The Elder was too shocked to answer anything to that question right away. Had Chris really just called him ‘Dad’? Completely speechless, he just stared into the young man’s face for a moment, trying to think of anything to reply, until realisation suddenly hit him.

He had just said it himself, Chris was having a high fever, was probably almost delirious. That was the only logical explanation, the boy was hallucinating. Out of curiosity, though, Leo decided to play along for the moment.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Why does that surprise you?”

Although Chris’ mind was still drifting, and he was barely aware of what he was saying, his words were still coming out strong.

“You’ve never been there before. Why would you care that I’m sick now?”

Surprised by this revelation of the young man, a deep frown creased Leo’s forehead. What father would not care about his child’s well-being? After all, he could talk from experience, as ever since Wyatt’s birth his first priority was to make sure his son was alright.

Even though he obviously wasn’t responsible for Chris’ experiences, the Elder suddenly felt that the young man could use some sympathy.

“Because I’m not indifferent to you, Chris, don’t ever think that! Would I be here otherwise?” Leo waited for the young man’s answer, and just when he thought he had fallen back asleep, he finally got it. But it was not exactly what he had expected.

“I would have appreciated that concern when Wyatt just wanted to let me die, you know?” While speaking, Chris’ voice was becoming less and less audible and he finally became completely quiet at he drifted back into a, this time dreamless, sleep.

Leo didn’t quite know what to make of that last statement, but while he was still thinking about it, a familiar jingling sound interrupted his thoughts; the other Elders were calling him.

He sighed deeply and directed one last concerned glance at Chris before he orbed away at last.

 

* * *

 

Piper was trying to distract herself. She had already tried cooking and cleaning, but whatever she did, her thoughts always wandered back to Leo. The Elder had orbed back up there only a few hours ago and she was already missing him terribly. Things between them had suddenly happened so fast, and before she had even realised that they were on their way to getting back together, he had already had to leave again. That just wasn’t fair.

As far as Chris was concerned, she was praying for his fast recovery, but being in the attic with him and seeing him lie there unconsciously was more than she could handle right now. They had come so close to losing him and it wasn’t even sure yet if he had made it for good.

So, after neither cooking nor cleaning had done much to distract Piper, she had moved on to doing the laundry, which she was still doing when Paige entered the room after a while.

“Here you are, I’ve been looking all over for you.” The younger witch watched her sister for a few moments in surprise until she finally managed to ask, “What are you doing there?”

“Well, what does it look like? I’m going to do the laundry, so at first I’m sorting the dirty clothes. The last days have been so stressful that I just didn’t get around to doing it.”

Although her sister seemed to be quite content, Paige didn’t trust the situation at all.

“Piper, it’s the middle of the night. You’re right, the last days _have_ been stressful, so don’t you think you should rather get some sleep now?”

“Then what about you? Why aren’t you at Richard’s?”

Paige stared at the ground, slightly embarrassed. The truth was that she was here, because she and Richard had been fighting after he had started using magic again. Given the circumstances, though, she knew that this was definitely not the moment to burden Piper with her problems as well.

“I’m sleeping on the couch for tonight, ‘cause I think the Power of Three should stay together for now, with all these demons that have been attacking lately.” The youngest of the Charmed Ones looked at her sister, who was just checking the pockets of some pants for forgotten items and waited for the objection that, to her big surprise, never came.

“Yes, I guess you’re right. It’s too dangerous for us to go our separate ways, especially now that we’re on our own.”

“’On our own’, what do you mean by that?”

“Well, Leo is gone and Chris… who knows how long it’ll take for him to recover.” More to herself than to her sister, she added silently, “ _If_ he even recovers.”

The pale witch was slightly taken aback by that.

“And here I thought Phoebe had said you were pretty optimistic about him. What happened to that attitude?”

Piper took another pair of pants out of the basket next to her, before answering.

“Well, that was before I knew that Leo would…”

Paige looked at her expectantly, but her older sister didn’t appear to want to finish that sentence any time soon. Instead she was staring at a rather unremarkable piece of paper she had just pulled out of a pants pocket and unfolded.

“Piper? What’s wrong? What is that?” The red-head was starting to get concerned, but then Piper handed her the paper wordlessly and let herself sink into a chair next to her.

Paige immediately recognized the text on the paper as a spell, but it took her a moment to put it into context.

Chris! That had been his trousers, the ones she had brought back from Magic School. And that was the spell he had used to see the future, the spell that was responsible for his blindness and not as it had been in the book, but as Chris had altered it.

Just as speechless as Piper, Paige continued to stare at the note in her hand. Why had Chris lied to them? Why had he told them that he didn’t remember the spell exactly anymore when he had in fact written it down? What could possibly have caused him to rather remain blind than just to tell them the truth?

Paige didn’t know an answer to that, until the first line of the spell suddenly caught her attention again.

“I call upon the Halliwells.” She had read it out loud unconsciously and ripped Piper out of her stupor in the process.

Without paying any mind to her sister, the dark haired witch stormed past her and up the stairs to the attic.

Paige stared after her, confused. What was she planning to do now? When Piper was angry it was never easy to tell what her next move would be, and as she wasn’t really sure about her emotional state, Paige orbed upstairs to Chris herself, just to be safe.

 

* * *

 

As Chris woke up this time, he was feeling much better than before. His mind wasn’t as hazy anymore, but it still took him a moment to realise what had woken him. Someone had orbed into the room. He could hear steps now, then Paige’s voice, confirming his suspicion.

“Chris, are you awake?” She was speaking very quietly so not to wake him up if he wasn’t, but the person coming up the stairs in this very moment obviously didn’t care about that at all. Whoever it was, was moving very quickly and was already in the room when Chris answered with a weak, “Yes, I am.”

He began to sit up slowly and this time nobody kept him from it. He tried to become more awake by rubbing across his face, but it didn’t really have much of an effect.

One of the two people present came closer and Paige finally told him who the other one was.

“Piper, what are you doing? Just… don’t do anything rash, ok?”

The tension in her voice actually surprised Chris and he anxiously turned in the direction Piper was coming from. He didn’t really know what to expect, but what Piper did next, he definitely hadn’t expected.

The oldest of the Charmed Ones sat down on the couch next to him and then laid her hands around his face. The part that surprised him most of all, however, was the tone of her voice when she finally began to speak. While it was rather gentle, it made it very clear that the witch would not accept any prevarications.

“I found a note with the spell you used in a pocket of your trousers. You lied to us, because it still invokes the power of the Halliwells. So I’m just going to ask this once and I warn you, better think carefully about your answer. If I think you’re lying I’m going to use a truth spell on you, that much I can promise you.”

Chris didn’t doubt her seriousness for even a second, which made him even more afraid of her question.

“Are you part of our family?”

Paige, who was giving her sister free reign on this, held her breath as the seconds passed.

Chris felt as if his throat was constricted, but as Piper was still holding his head, he couldn’t just nod, he had to say it out loud.

“Yes.” It didn’t come out as much more than a whisper, but it had still taken all of the young man’s strength to answer.

The witch wasn’t about to let him off the hook just yet, though.

“Who are you?”

Silence followed the question again, but this time Chris didn’t seem willing to reply. Several moments passed until Piper repeated the question even more emphatically.

“ _Who are you_?”

The young whitelighter’s voice nearly broke as he tried desperately to stop this interrogation.

“I _can’t_ …”

Piper simply wasn’t willing to give up. Following a sudden inspiration, she now posed a question she wouldn’t even have contemplated five minutes ago. Nevertheless she somehow felt that she just had to ask it.

“Are _you_ my son?” Piper didn’t know what kind of reaction she had expected, but she realised in shock that tears had rushed into Chris’ eyes at this question and were now running partially down his cheeks. The silence that followed this time appeared to be almost impenetrable, as finally a very solemn “yes” rang out.

**To be continued…**


	9. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Halliwells begin to deal with the truth, now that Chris' secret is finally out in the open.

Paige wasn’t sure if she could believe her own ears. Had Chris really just said that he was Piper’s son? Her nephew? Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds and nobody moved until Piper finally broke out of her stupor.

At first she had just stared at the young man incredulously, but now she pulled him into her arms and hugged him as tightly as possible. Clearly caught by surprise by this apparently unexpected reaction, Chris responded to the embrace only slowly while adjusting to the situation.

Without her realising it, tears had started to run down Paige’s cheeks as she stood there and watched mother and son. It was as if they were reunited after a very long time and in some way they actually were, at least from Chris’ point of view.

He had his face buried in Piper’s hair and only the slight trembling of his shoulders gave away that he was still crying. The oldest of the Charmed Ones stroked across his back soothingly and whispered something in his ear to calm him down, but Paige couldn’t understand it from her position.

Silently, as to not disturb the two, she left the attic and made her way back downstairs. She briefly thought about waking Phoebe to tell her the news immediately, as the empath had already gone to bed, but ultimately decided against it. Though her sister would certainly not be angry to be woken up for something like this, she might want to talk to her future nephew right away and he and Piper really needed some time alone for now.

Phoebe would probably be sulky for finding out last, but that was a risk Paige was willing to take.

 

* * *

 

Minutes had passed when Chris finally broke out of his mother’s embrace. Slightly embarrassed, he tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but that wasn’t exactly easy as new ones kept coming. He could tell that Piper was staring at him and in this moment he cursed the fact that he couldn’t see. Couldn’t look into her eyes to make sure that she was truly happy about her discovery. She had hugged him, yes, but he wanted to see the look on her face to make sure that she had meant it.

Piper must have realised his doubts, because she now gently laid a hand on her son’s cheek and spoke as softly as Chris was only used to from his mom in the future.

“What’s bothering you? Is something wrong?”

The young man bit his bottom lip nervously. He wasn’t sure if this was really the right moment to mention it, but he had been telling enough lies since he had gotten here. It was about time he started telling the truth.

“I’m sorry that I caused you and the others so much grief. What I told you yesterday about Wyatt’s brother being dead... I wish I could take that back, but...”

“It’s alright, Chris. Believe me, as sad as I had been, and I’ve felt as if my heart had been shattered, this moment is more than making up for it.” She paused for a second before continuing. “I had thought you were dead...”

At these words, Chris let his head fall, feeling guilty, but Piper lifted it again gently.

“No, you don’t understand. I mean yesterday after you used that damn spell. When Leo and I arrived here in the attic, you were lying on the ground with your eyes open, so pale that I was certain you were dead. It would have killed me to lose you, even before I knew who you are.” The witch silently wiped a single tear from her face while she was enjoying the closeness between herself and her son.

In the past days so much had happened to him and still, until this moment he hadn’t let anyone of them get close to him. That was a trait Piper had noticed immediately about the young man; he always kept his problems to himself and never asked anyone for help.

However, whether he wanted to accept it or not, this time he had to rely on the help of her and her sisters. Now that they knew the spell Chris had used, she figured it shouldn’t be difficult to write a counter spell, but just to be sure she wanted to wait until morning to use the Power of Three.

I was already late at night and Piper had noticed that Chris was still having a slightly increased temperature. It was better if he got some more rest; after all, he had, once again, barely escaped death. A sure sign that he really was a Halliwell, as Piper thought with a wry smile.

She gave the young man in front of her a kiss on his forehead and wanted to stand up from the couch, but when Chris felt her leaving, he immediately reached out and grabbed her arm to hold her back.

It was as if he was having his mother back after eight years and he just didn’t want her to go, even if she only wanted to leave the room. Chris knew that he was acting childish, but he simply didn’t want to be alone.

Piper saw the vulnerable expression on her son’s face and couldn’t help but comply with his silent request, sitting back down.

“It’s already late, honey, you should try to get some more sleep. You’ve been hurt by a darklighter pretty badly and still have a fever.” As if to verify this statement, Piper placed a hand on Chris’ forehead and nodded slightly as she noticed how warm it was.

The young whitelighter was still holding on to her arm as if to make sure she didn’t just suddenly disappear into thin air. In all this time with them he had never appeared as unguarded as in this moment. Even his voice was unusually soft, almost shy.

“Could you... could you stay for a while?”

“Of course.” Piper hadn’t hesitated a second and now helped Chris to lie back down on the pillows, noticing how weak he still was. The events of the past minutes had kept the weariness away for a while, but now it was back full force and the young man tried futilely to stay awake any longer.

Piper was sitting next to him on the couch and watched as her son relaxed, his breathing becoming more even until he finally drifted off to sleep. Just as she thought he had lost consciousness, though, his lips moved once more.

“Mum?” Chris asked, barely awake anymore.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

Piper’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears once again as she brushed a few strands of hair out of Chris’ face, before bending down and giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“I love you, too, honey.”

 

* * *

 

_“Mum! I’m home!”_

_“Hi, peanut! How was school?” Piper Halliwell had just come out of the kitchen and was now hugging her youngest son lovingly._

_“Ok, I guess. Adam from my class is going to throw a party for his birthday on Saturday. Can I go? Please?” The approximately ten year old boy was looking up at his mother expectantly, gleaming eyes and a wide smile brightening his features. He was even bouncing on his heels a little, prompting a small laugh from Piper._

_“Sure you can, Chris. Did your brother get invited, too?” she asked, heading back to her cooking at this point, so she didn’t notice the reluctant expression on her son’s face._

_“No, only kids from my class are invited,” Chris replied. After a short pause he added: “Where is Wyatt, anyway? I thought he would be home from school earlier than me today.”_

_Piper, who was just putting plates on the kitchen table, froze for a second before answering, clearly avoiding Chris’ gaze when she did._

_“Well, your dad came by earlier. He didn’t have a lot of time, and since you weren’t here yet, he and Wyatt took off alone.” Now she finally did look directly at her son, her brow furrowing and the corners of her mouth dropping significantly as she saw his obvious disappointment. However, this only lasted a second before Piper took a deep breath and then leaned down to Chris, a warm smile now adorning her lips._

_“Don’t worry, peanut, I’m sure they’re not doing anything special. And the next time your dad comes by to visit, you’ll all do something together. I promise.”_

_It took several long moments, but in the end, Piper’s optimism infected her son as well and his sullen expression changed into a small smile, too._

_“Now let’s eat something, okay? I made your favourite foot,” the witch finished, causing the boy’s smile to grow even wider as he sat down at the table._

Startled, Phoebe Halliwell’s eyes flew open as she woke up.

“Oh my God!” was everything she managed to whisper into the darkness of her room.

 

* * *

 

“Piper! Paige!” Still in her pyjamas, Phoebe ran down the stairs, screaming for her sisters. She just had to tell them immediately what she had just dreamt.

“We’re in the kitchen,” came Piper’s response right away and within seconds the empath was standing in front of the other two witches, gesticulating wildly while trying to put the cause for her excitement into words.

“I’ve got to tell you something! Well, I’m not even sure if I’m _allowed_ to tell you this, but I simply _can not_ keep it to myself!” She made a dramatic pause to amplify the significance of her news, but received only confused looks from her sisters, so she continued with a sigh.

“Well, it’s about Chris, he...”

“Is he alright? His condition didn’t get worse again, did it?” Piper cut her off worriedly.

Now it was Phoebe’s turn to give her sister a confused look, but then she continued with a shake of her head.

“No, he’s fine. At least I think he is, ‘cause I haven’t seen him yet this morning.” She took a deep breath as if to prepare herself for giving Piper the shocking news.

“Well, what I actually wanted to say is that I’ve been dreaming, or rather having a vision in my sleep, I guess, and it was about Chris. He... how am I going to say this best? Well, he is...”

A smile crept on Piper’s face as she realised what her sister was going to say. She tried to sound as calm as possible when she finished her sentence.

“My son?”

As if she had been turned to stone, Phoebe stared at Piper, her mouth still open, too surprised to reply anything until her lips finally formed a silent ‘Oh’.

“So you already know.” And after a second’s hesitation she continued, clearly disappointed. “But why do you know this already? How?”

Now even Paige couldn’t keep herself from laughing as she handed a cup of coffee to the empath, who was still shocked that her surprise wasn’t one anymore, and led her over to sit down at the kitchen table. Then she and Piper proceeded to tell their sister everything that had transpired the night before and how they had uncovered Chris’ best kept secret.

“He must have been really afraid to tell us.” Phoebe finally concluded slowly, while she was staring across the rim of her cup, deep in thought.

“What do you mean?” Piper looked at her sister questioningly, causing her to lower her cup of coffee, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Well, he would have rather stayed blind than tell us who he really is. That’s saying enough, don’t you think?”

Piper just nodded silently and for a few minutes it remained quiet in the room while each of the three sisters followed their own thoughts. Finally it was Paige who broke the silence.

“When are you going to tell Leo?”

The oldest of the sisters looked over at her younger sibling in shock. She hadn’t even thought about that yet.

“Probably not very soon. He’s up there with the other Elders in safety and I’d rather it stayed that way. It was hard enough for him to leave one son behind, I don’t want him to have to worry about Chris, too.” That was all Piper wanted to say on that topic, but Phoebe wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“Well, you’ve got to tell him at some point. After all, now that you’re not together anymore, Chris could get a little problem eventually if you and Leo don’t…” The empath made and awkward motion with her hands, not quite sure how to phrase this tactfully. “…well, you know…”

Paige on the other hand preferred to call the problem by its name.

“If you don’t hook up again to conceive him.”

Piper’s face had taken on a vivid shade of pink when she suddenly seemed to remember something and slowly laid a hand on her stomach. Clearly embarrassed, but also surprised, she looked at her sisters in turn.

“Well, um… maybe I, or rather we, already took care of that.”

For a few seconds Paige and Phoebe just stared at her sister until they realised what she was saying.

“Oooh,” was the only thing Paige could come up with at the moment, while Phoebe clasped her hands before her mouth in shock.

“You mean you’re… pregnant?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Could be possible.” Indecisive, Piper kept looking from her stomach to her sisters and finally up into the direction of the attic. She had been pretty overwhelmed by the news that Chris was her son and had only started to get used to it, but to think that she might already be pregnant with him was definitely not making it any easier for her. If she even was pregnant at all.

A suggestion from Paige pulled her back out of her thoughts.

“Maybe you should tell Chris. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Piper looked at her youngest sister in disbelief.

“Are you crazy? I’m not going to tell my son what his father and I did last night. That would just be completely… gross.” The witch exclaimed strongly, making a defensive gesture, as if she was pushing the mere thought away.

“Okay, okay, I got it. It was just a suggestion.”

“When I’m sure I’m pregnant I will tell him, but not earlier. It’s just as probable that nothing happened and I don’t want to even mention this until I know for sure.” Piper paused for a moment to gather her thoughts and decided to concentrate again on the most important issue right now. Chris was still blind.

“I think we should forget this for now and focus again on the problem at hand. Now that we know the exact spell Chris used, we can easily cast a counter spell. I wrote it already, but I wanted to use the Power of Three to make sure it works. But I guess it’s about time now, so can we please go upstairs and finally cure my son?”

Piper got up determinedly and left the kitchen to go to the attic, her sisters following closely behind.

 

* * *

 

The sound of footsteps and the smell of candles woke Chris from his dreamless sleep. He needed a few seconds to orient himself, until the events of the last night came back to him. His secret had been uncovered and Piper finally knew who he was. Most importantly, though, she had been happy about her discovery.

The young whitelighter smiled inadvertently as he thought back to the embrace and the witch telling him that she loved him.

But the smile turned into a confused frown as he became fully aware of the noises around him. He sat up carefully and asked with a still sleepy sounding voice:

“What’s going on?”

“Good morning, peanut,” Piper’s voice greeted him as Chris could hear her walking over to him. Next thing he knew, he found himself in his mother’s firm embrace.

“Your aunts and I are going to cast a spell that’s going to restore your vision. We’ve already put up the candles; you’re the only one who’s still missing,” she explained and Chris didn’t even need to see her face to know she was smiling right now.

She laid a hand on Chris’ back to help him to stand up, but the young man was set on not appearing completely helpless.

“Thanks, but I can do this.”

Piper pulled her hand back immediately and only tentatively took her son’s arm to guide him over to the circle after he had stood up.

When Chris was surrounded by the candles, Paige lit the last of them and then the three witched went to stand outside the circle in equal intervals to each other. Piper was positioned directly in front of their whitelighter, studying his face with worry for a brief moment. Then she started to recite the spell, her sisters following her example.

 

“Spirits of the Halliwell line

You’ve unveiled what lies ahead in time

Your ancient powers we summon here

To make the darkness disappear

The veil of time shall now be closed

The present has to be exposed”

 

As soon as the witches began the spell, Chris could feel the magic working. His eyes were tingling almost unbearably, the energy of the spell running through them. All of a sudden, the young whitelighter was starting to feel extremely dizzy and he could only hope that this was nothing more than a temporary side effect of the spell and nothing to worry about. Either way, he was having trouble keeping his balance. Ultimately he had to sink to his knees to not step outside the circle accidentally.

His mother was watching him – almost worried sick –  and wanted nothing more than to rush to Chris’ side, but first she had to finish the spell. After she had spoken the last words, however, nothing could hold her back and she was kneeling in front of Chris in an instant, trying to see his face.

“Chris, are you alright? Please say something.”

The concern in her voice finally caused the young man to lift his head. He had tears in his eyes, but he was smiling and returned the gaze of his mother steadily.

Laughing, he lifted one hand and reached for Piper’s cheek as if he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life than her.

“Hi, Mom.”

**To be continued…**


	10. Ay You Wish!

Piper’s gaze nervously wandered over the dining table for the umpteenth time while she was handing out napkins to her sisters and Chris, who were already seated. Coffee, juice, homemade bread, eggs, maple syrup and a huge stack of pancakes – Chris’ favourite kind of breakfast – were already standing in front of her, but she wanted to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything.

She wanted – no, she _needed_ – this moment to be perfect. After all, it wasn’t every day that the whitelighter, who had looked out for her family for months now, suddenly turned out to be part of said family himself.

Of course she knew full well that it was too late for a first impression – that one she had screwed up long ago – but as this was the first time she was going to share a meal with Chris, finally aware of who he was, it was probably as close to that as she could get.

“Seriously, Piper, just sit down already!” Paige suddenly commanded, frustration colouring her voice. “There’s enough food here to last us for a couple days and if – God forbid – anything _should_ be missing, the kitchen’s just a few steps away. Plus, you’re kinda making me feel guilty about not helping with the preparations and I’m really trying to enjoy my pancakes here.”

Chris chuckled at his aunt’s words before he addressed Piper as well.

“Paige is right, Mum. This all looks amazing and you’ve clearly done more than enough already. It’s time for you to eat something, too.”

For a moment Piper wanted to protest, but as she realised that she was overruled, and that the two did have a point, she finally nodded and sat down in her seat as well.

Earlier, just after the spell rendering Chris blind had been broken, she had tried to make him get some more rest, only to quickly realise that nothing could have made the young man stay in the attic even a second longer. Not only was he able to see again, but he’d also recovered from his recent injury, his only complaint at the time being that he was starving. This had been her cue, obviously, spurring Piper into making her son the perfect homemade breakfast that they were now all enjoying.

 _Her son_.

It was a crazy thought, really. Shocking, overwhelming, frightening… and simply wonderful all the same. She had had a few hours now to process the idea, and yet Piper knew she hadn’t fully internalised it yet. Chris was her son…

“What is it?” the young man in question suddenly asked, pulling Piper out of her thoughts. She needed a moment to make sense of his question and the sceptical look on his face, but then she realised that she had been starring at Chris for a while now, grinning brightly and not even touching her own food.

Feeling embarrassed for a second, Piper quickly shock her head.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Sorry. Just… could you hand me the syrup, please?” she asked, trying to change the subject. A soft chuckle coming from Phoebe at this point seemed to undermine that attempt, but the empath quickly sobered up again as Piper shot her a stern look.

“Sure,” Chris replied as he handed over the requested item. Judging by the expression on his face, he didn’t fully understand what this silent exchange between the two sisters had been about, but in the end he didn’t seem to care that much, either.

In fact, Piper had never seen the young man this relaxed in all those months he had been here and it sent a wave of relief through her. She wanted Chris to consider the Halliwell manor his home, even in this time, although she was afraid that she might not be able to meet the expectation he probably had of her now. She was his mother, yes, but she wasn’t the person he knew from the future and she wasn’t sure if she could be.

Then again, as Piper thought back to the first months Chris had spent with them in this time, she realised all too clearly that he had had to learn that the hard way already.

Back when Leo had given her and her sisters the powers of goddesses, the young man from the future had been the first to get a taste of her new strength and Piper was still incredibly grateful that she had at least not hurt him badly that day.

She hadn’t trusted him at the time and if the last few weeks hadn’t been, she probably still wouldn’t. Piper felt sick as she remembered that she had even thrown Chris out of the house once...

 

* * *

 

Phoebe was smiling silently while she was enjoying her breakfast. Every now and then she threw a glance at mother and son, who were both eating in silence as well, to try and see how they were taking the situation. Although nobody at the table was talking, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. The atmosphere was rather filled with a kind of joyful tension, as if none of them could yet comprehend the recent positive developments.

As the empath looked once again in Piper’s direction, she also spotted the clock on the wall behind her sister and her hand with the fork froze just an inch away from her mouth.

_Damn it, Elise is going to kill me._

She let out a small yelp and dropped her fork as she jumped up from her chair, earning herself surprised looks from her sisters and nephew.

“Oh no, I’m so late already!” Phoebe pointed out desperately and rushed out of the dining room to get dressed for work. After about three minutes she hurried back down the stairs, all the while muttering how angry Elise would be after specifically asking her to be on time today.

Sighing, Paige got up from her chair as well now and went to catch her sister before she left.

“Hey, Phoebe, do you want me to get you to the office? I don’t have any plans for today and,” her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “I don’t really want to be in the way of any mother-son talks.”

Phoebe looked at her younger sister in surprise for a moment, then broke out in a huge smile and hugged her forcefully.

“Paige, you’re the best!” she announced earnestly as she put her car keys back on a table. Then she took the hand of her sister, who orbed the both of them into the empty corridor outside the Daily Mirror office within seconds.

As soon as Phoebe opened the glass door to go inside, Elise’s loud voice greeted her, drowning out the usual buzz from the rest of the staff. Her boss’ harsh tone made the empath flinch for a second.

“Phoebe, where have you been? I had asked you to be on time for once. Your desk is already close to a collapse from all your mail.”

“I am really terribly sorry, but my nephew...”

The angry expression on the older woman’s face vanished immediately and was replaced by a look of genuine concern.

“Is something wrong with Wyatt? I hope he’s alright.”

“No, no, Wyatt is fine. This was about Chris actually.”

Elise’s brow furrowed in confusion as she looked back at her columnist.

“Chris? Do you have another nephew?”

Phoebe stopped with her mouth still open. She had said far too much already.

“Eh, no. But maybe some day I will. Who knows? You know what I mean.” With that Phoebe left a completely puzzled Elise behind and went into her office, Paige following closely.

 

* * *

 

Phoebe took a moment to stretch extensively after she had finished the last lines of the letter in her hand. She and Paige had been going through the dozens, if not hundreds of reader’s mail piled on her desk for a few hours now, but so far she had found none that she wanted to use for her column. A few had been not bad, but the empath wanted a letter that would grip her instantly and not let her go until she had replied to it.

Paige obviously hadn’t been successful either, as she put the sheet of paper from her hand down and sighed, before taking a large sip from her coffee.

“Who’d have thought that so many people would turn to a newspaper columnist for help with their love lives?” Bored, her eyes wandered across the countless still unopened envelops in front of her until she finally reached for the one closest to her. Instead of opening it herself, though, Paige held it in front of her sister’s face.

“I need a break. You take this one,” she ordered, sounding thoroughly depleted.

Phoebe grimaced slightly, not any more motivated than Paige, but in the end she took the letter anyway. The instant her fingers touched the paper, she flinched, the images of a vision rushing through her mind.

The witch could see a young woman with dark hair, who was being attacked by a demon or warlock and was clearly fearing for her life. She begged for her attacker to stop, but he didn’t show any pity and continued to attack, throwing rays of fire at his victim.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure that this is the right place? Maybe your scrying was off?” Paige looked at her sister doubtfully. She had orbed the two of them somewhere into the middle east, right in the middle of a desert, and even though the cave they were in looked exactly as Phoebe had described it, the young witch wasn’t so sure that this was where they were meant to be.

“I mean, why would anybody who lives out here in the desert write to ‘Ask Phoebe’? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, obviously I’m world-famous,” Phoebe replied with a grin, but then added, “Look at this place, maybe she’s an archaeologist from the states, or something,” slightly more serious this time.

She continued to look around the cave curiously. There were several shelves constructed at the walls, just like she had seen it in her vision, but there was no trace of either the young woman or the man who had attacked her.

The two witches were standing in front of one of the shelves, studying its content when Paige suddenly heard a noise behind them. She turned around to face the entrance immediately, but stopped in her movement when she saw something she really hadn’t expected to see.

A man on a flying carpet had just flown into the cave and was about to attack the Halliwells, but Paige reacted quickly enough to orb herself and her sister out of harm’s way, a few meters to the side.

The red-headed witch reached out and shouted, “Shelf!”, causing said item to crash directly onto the flying carpet.

Their attacker only barely managed to stay on his ride, but the pink bottle he had been holding fell from his grasp and landed in the sand covering the floor of the cave. He tried to reach it, but in that moment Phoebe threw a potion at him. She missed her target, but nevertheless caused the demon to retreat, as he seemed to realise that he didn’t stand a chance against the two witches. He gave Phoebe an angry glare before he turned his flying carpet around and left the cave as quickly as he had entered it.

Glad that they had been able to ward off the attack, Paige sighed in relief. She let her gaze wonder around the now empty cave once again, pausing as she noticed the bottle the demon had dropped. Before she could go to pick it up, though, Phoebe beat her to it.

The empath scrutinised the flask in her hand for a moment, and then rubbed over the colourful surface a few times to get rid of the dirt on it. She let out a small yelp and almost dropped the bottle in shock as pink smoke suddenly emerged from the opening.

Two seconds later the woman from her vision was standing in front of her, but instead of normal clothing, she was wearing an oriental dress – in pink – and looked at Phoebe with gratitude.

“Thank you for rescuing me. I’m at your service, master!”

 

* * *

 

Piper Halliwell was not enthusiastic about the situation. Not at all.

She was watching Jinny the genie as she was trying to persuade Phoebe to release her, but without much success.

After all, just as her older sister, the empath knew from first-hand experience how dangerous it was to make a wish to a genie.

“But only if you set me free you can prevent Bosk from taking possession of my bottle again. I beg you, master, do it, it will solve your problems as well as mine.” Jinny looked at Phoebe pleadingly, but the witch shook her head in response.

“No, sorry, but no wishes. I know all about genies, you’re tricksters.” With that the topic seemed to be done for the witch, but Jinny clearly wasn’t about to give up that easily. A part of Piper couldn’t even blame her for her persistence; after all, her freedom was at stake here.

“Well, if you won’t set me free, at least wish for Bosk to be destroyed. Otherwise he will come here sooner or later and once he is holding my bottle again, he will force me to fulfil his third wish.”

“And that would be?” Phoebe wanted to know.

Everyone in the room looked at Jinny expectantly. Whatever the demon wanted to wish for, if it was scaring the genie this much, it definitely wasn’t anything good.

Jinny’s voice dropped to a whisper as she answered Phoebe’s question.

“Zanbar.”

“Zanbar?” Phoebe echoed, glancing over at Paige, who added,

“What’s Zanbar?”

“The lost city. Before being swallowed up by the desert, it was the seed of power for an evil empire,” Jinny explained.

Piper looked at pink-clad woman in surprise. What could a demon possibly want with a deserted city?

“But what does Bosk want with it? It’s just a city.”

“A city of magic!” Jinny replied urgently. “Bosk has been using his thieves to search for its former site and if he finds it and wishes it back there will be no stopping him. That is why you must wish me free, master.”

The genie had turned to Phoebe again imploringly, but before the empath could answer her, Piper cut in forcefully.

“No way! We will deal with Bosk, but we’ll do it our way. And I’d really prefer it if Jinny here goes back into her bottle until then.” To the genie she added, “No offence, I just want to make sure nobody makes any wishes by accident. We’ve been burned before.”

Phoebe nodded in agreement and held the pink bottle up for Jinny who was looking anything but pleased.

“Do you mind?” she prompted with a smile.

“Yes, master.” Jinny crossed her arms and vanished back into the bottle in a whirl of smoke.

 

* * *

 

“So, what’s the book saying about this Bosk?” Piper looked expectantly at her son and Paige who were standing in front of the Book of Shadows, searching for the demon that had attack the sisters earlier.

“He’s a low-level demon with minimal powers. There’s even a vanquishing potion,” Chris read from the page before giving his mother a reassuring smile. “It shouldn’t take long. Once Phoebe finishes the potion we’ll summon him and that’s it. Problem solved.” He glanced over to the empath who was already busy mixing said potion right now.

Piper nodded in acknowledgment, glad that this seemed to be an easy enemy to take out. With everything that had been going on lately, she really didn’t want to have to add any more fighting to the list. Just as she was about to reply something to Chris, though, she was abruptly cut short when a flying carpet with Bosk himself on it crashed through the large window behind the Book of Shadows. It knocked both Paige and Chris to the ground where they remained for the moment, completely dazed.

Piper was the first to recover from the sudden intrusion and instinctively tried to make Bosk explode, but her attack was blocked by the large silver medallion he was wearing around his neck. The demon laughed maliciously at her futile attack and in turn tried to kill the witch as well, but she was able to duck behind the couch in the attic just in time.

Piper looked over at Phoebe, who had taken cover, too, and now stared at the pink bottle standing on the small table beside her. The oldest of the sisters knew that the empath was about to wish for something and wanted to stop her, but to no avail. Just as Piper was about to shout, “Don’t do it” to her, she could hear Phoebe’s voice.

“Jinny, I wish you free.”

Pink smoke masked her view, but when Piper could see again, she stared in shock at the young woman who had appeared in the middle or the room, completely dressed in black. It was undoubtedly Jinny, but except from her looks, she didn’t seem to have much in common with the exuberant genie from before. Her voice was icy when she turned to Bosk.

“Well it’s about time. Who’s the master now?” With that she threw a fireball at the demon, who instantly erupted in flames and perished within seconds, screaming.

Piper knew that Jinny, who was obviously a demon herself, would go for the bottle next, but the witch was faster. She immediately jumped to her feet and reached for the bottle, relieved as her fingers closed around the powerful item. As she turned around to try and vanquish the demon, however, she was too late.

The moment Jinny realised that her former home was lost to her for now, she threw a dark look at Piper and then jumped on the flying carpet still hovering at the window. She was gone before the witch had a chance to stop her.

Piper looked after the demon for a second, but then directed her attention back to her son and Paige instead who were getting up from the floor now, still slightly dishevelled.

Chris returned his mother’s gaze, obviously glad that she was unharmed, but then a confused expression appeared on his face. His eyes wandered across the attic several times until he focused on Piper again.

“Where is Phoebe?”

Piper took a small gasp at the question, mentally kicking herself for not noticing the absence of her sister earlier. She followed Chris’ exampled and looked around the room, increasingly worried, until her gaze landed on the bottle in her hand from which Phoebe’s muffled voice could suddenly be heard.

“I’m in here! Hello?”

Piper lowered her head to get a look through the opening of the bottle and was greeted by a miniature Phoebe inside, who waved at her sheepishly.

“What the hell are you doing in there? Why don’t you come out?” she oldest of the sisters wanted to know, annoyed that Phoebe had caused her to become concerned for her safety.

“I can’t. I don’t know how. Try commanding me,” the empath suggested from inside the bottle.

Piper frowned at this for a moment, but as she didn’t have any better ideas, either, she decided to give it a try.

“Alright. Damn it, get out of there already!” she instructed her sister in a stern voice.

Smoke began to rush out of the bottle immediately at Piper’s command, although this time in light blue as opposed to the earlier pink. When Phoebe was back to her usual size, her older sister stared at her dumbfounded for a moment, her face blank with disbelief. That only lasted for a split second, though, before she started laughing.

“You look ridiculous.”

Phoebe returned her sister’s look with a huff.

“Hey! That’s not funny, okay?”

Behind her, laughter erupted now as well, much to Phoebe’s indignation, prompting the brand new genie to turn around to Chris and Paige. Both were trying rather futilely to make a straight face as they found Phoebe glaring at them.

“I’m sorry, Phoebe, but mom is right. You _do_ look ridiculous,” Chris pointed out in his defence, indicating his aunt’s costume.

Irritated, Phoebe turned away from all of them and went over to the large mirror in the corner of the attic. There she could admire her new outfit in all its glory for the first time and she silently had to agree with her family.

She really did look silly in the light blue oriental dress with the perfectly matching blond braid fastened on top of her head. As if she was on her way to a costume party. Although it wasn’t as if she was looking like this voluntarily.

“Alright, alright, I got it. But could you all please stop laughing now and instead help me fix this?”

Paige was the first who pulled herself together as much as possible and now looked at her sister with a completely deadpan expression.

“We’d really love to, Phoebe, but… don’t you have to help Major Nelson first?”

After that line, neither Piper nor Chris could control themselves anymore and they burst out laughing again. Paige even had to hold onto a nearby chair to stay upright, tears in her eyes. Only Phoebe was not really in the mood for any of this.

“Funny. _Really_ funny.”

 

* * *

 

“Ah, there’s our newest addition to the family.” Phoebe was downright beaming as she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Chris.

 He had actually fled here to get some relief from the bustling in the kitchen, where the sister had started working on a way to deal with Jinny and fix Phoebe’s situation, but apparently Piper had become so annoyed with her little sister that she had thrown her out for the time being. While Chris really liked his aunt a lot, right now he wished his mom had sent her into her bottle instead. Phoebe could be nerv-racking enough just being herself, but now as a genie her exuberant behaviour had clearly gotten even worse.

“Hey, Aunt Phoebe,” he greeted her, forcing a small smile on his lips. After all, he knew that this situation couldn’t exactly be easy for the witch, either.

“Aww, that’s so sweet when you call me that,” Phoebe replied, grinning wildly. “You know, I never would have expected you to be my nephew. I mean, of course I liked you already before I found out, and I’m actually asking myself now how I didn’t see the resemblance between you, Piper and Leo, but I only realised it when I had this dream last night. Then Piper and Paige confirmed it and­—” Phoebe was cut off in her rushed speech when Chris looked at her in surprise.

“Dream? What dream?”

“Well, I think it was more of a vision actually. I saw you as a child, maybe ten or eleven years old. You’d just come home from school and told Piper about some birthday party you wanted to go to.” The genie gave Chris a fake reproachful look as she lowered her voice. “And you were glad that Wyatt wasn’t invited.”

The whitelighter tried to remember that day, but he couldn’t and so he could only hope that Phoebe hadn’t seen anything she wasn’t supposed to know about his time.

The genie continued meanwhile, without noticing the hurt expression on Chris’ face at her next words.

“But then again, he was so mean to leave on a trip with Leo without even waiting for you. I’m sure if your dad had known that it wouldn't have taken long for you to come home, too, he would have wanted to take both of you with him. It must have been hard growing up with an Elder as a father who could barely find time for his children.”

Chris avoided looking into Phoebe’s eyes as he answered her.

“Actually, he found enough. Or at least in part.”

Just as Chris had expected, Phoebe completely misinterpreted the meaning of his words and now patted his shoulder encouragingly.

“You know, it doesn’t really matter how much time you spent with somebody, but _how_ you spent it, right?”

Chris only nodded silently and got up from the couch, but before he left the room, he turned to his aunt once again.

“There’s one thing you got wrong about that dream, by the way.  If I was glad that Wyatt wasn’t invited to one of my friends’ birthday parties, then it wasn’t because I wanted to tease him or anything. Nearly all of the kids at my school found him scary and were afraid of him, that’s why nobody ever visited me at home. I always told mum that I wouldn’t invite anyone because I was afraid a demon would attack, but it was really because of Wyatt.”

The young man hesitated a second before continuing.

“She never suspected anything. Nobody did.” With these words Chris left the room and headed up the stairs, wanting to clear his head.

Phoebe looked after her nephew with a sad expression until she finally realised that Piper was standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. She had tears in her eyes and was obviously completely shaken by what she had just heard from her son.

After a few seconds she came further into the room and now, too, looked to the spot where Chris had just left. The witch had her back turned to her sister as she started to speak with a constricted voice.

“How could I have been such an awful mother? How could I let Wyatt become evil and then not even notice it? He must have terrorised his brother for years and even now those memories are still hurting him.”

She took a short deep breath before she added,

“I just wish he could let go of that pain and simply be happy for once.” The moment Piper had said the words, she slapped her hand across her mouth in shock and spun around to her sister.

“No, Phoebe, don’t!”

But it was already too late. Genie-Phoebe had laid her hands together and now nodded her head once while a soft sound could be heard that made it all too clear that a wish had just been granted.

“I’m sorry, but your wish is my command,” she pointed out with a wry smile.

With panic in her eyes, Piper stared up at the ceiling, where her son had gone just moments ago. What had she done?

**To be continued…**


	11. Unimagined Consequences

Piper’s mind was racing as she hurried up the stairs. What had she done? She knew well enough that one had to pick one’s words carefully in the presence of a genie and yet she had just uttered a wish without thinking about it. She could only hope that Chris didn’t have to pay for her stupidity now, although she knew that the chances for that were slim. Phoebe had granted her wish and now there was only the question of how bad the consequences would turn out to be.

As soon as she had reached the upper floor, Piper stopped for a moment, causing Phoebe, who had followed her, to almost crash into her back. Where had Chris gone? Was he in the attic, maybe looking at something in the Book of Shadows?

The witch was just about to call for the young whitelighter, when she heard noises coming from Wyatt’s room. She realised that her two sons had to be in there, but now that she had certainty about Chris’ whereabouts, her steps became hesitant.

What would she find in that room? Was Chris still himself? To this day Piper could vividly remember the weeks after Leo had taken the pain from their break-up from her and she had been cheerfulness incarnate. Had she done that to her son now as well?

When she was finally standing right outside Wyatt’s bedroom, Phoebe still in tow, Piper couldn’t bring herself to open the door. Although her hand was moving closer to the doorknob, it kept slowing down and in the end halted completely. She just couldn’t do it.

She stayed like this for a few seconds, until there was an impatient noise behind her and Phoebe pushed her sister to the side to reach for the doorknob herself.

“I’ll just do it then,” she announced, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

When Piper could finally see what was happening in the room in front of her, she released the breath she hadn’t even realised she had been holding. She didn’t know what she had expected to find in here, but at first glance everything seemed to be normal.

Chris was standing at Wyatt’s bed, holding the toddler, and looked over with a smile on his lips as he noticed the two sisters entering. Despite the seemingly harmless scene, however, Piper was still concerned about the possible consequences of her wish. She obviously wasn’t the only one, either, as Phoebe’s next words proved all too clearly.

“Is everything alright in here?” the genie asked, earning herself a confused look from the young whitelighter.

“I only went up here like twenty seconds ago, Phoebe. Why would anything not be alright?” To the so far silent older witch he added, “Piper, did anything happen that I should know about? Or is it just Phoebe’s new outfit that’s making her act this weird?”

Without answering, Piper continued staring at her son, trying to figure out if he was changed or not. He was in a good mood, that much was obvious, but apart from that he seemed to be just the same as before.

Could it actually be that her wish had – for once – not backfired? That Chris had simply come to terms with his awful past and would be happier in the future? It sounded almost too good to be true.

“Piper? Piper, are you listening to me?”

The witch snapped out of her thoughts as Chris waved his hand through the air in front of her a few times, trying to get her attention. Only now did she realise that she had been staring at him in silence for several seconds without replying to his earlier question.

“What? Yes, sorry, of course I’m listening,” she declared hastily in an attempt to hide her concerns. “It’s just…” she began, but then shook her head a moment later. “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

She threw a last long look at Chris, who was still standing with a peaceful Wyatt on his arms, before she turned to her sister.

“Pheeps, I think everything here is fine, we should…” But Phoebe never found out what exactly they should do, because a thought suddenly came to Piper that made her turn back around instantly.

Without her being able to pinpoint it, something about this whole situation had seemed off to her and now she finally knew what it was. Wyatt had never been this quiet around Chris. It was as if he was able to feel the young man’s unrest and so was always rather fractious when Chris was carrying him. Now however, Wyatt was completely serene and peaceful, worrying Piper more than anything.

There was also something else. Something Chris had said, or rather what he had _not_ said.

“Wait, what did you just call me?” she asked, a terrible suspicion forming inside of her. Judging by the look on the young man’s face at this point, he was completely confused by her question, but Piper simply couldn’t care about that right now.

“‘Piper’, of course,” Chris replied, his brow furrowed. “That _is_ your name after all, isn’t it?”

Piper could practically see the gears in Chris’ head turning as the whitelighter was trying to figure out what was going on and why she and Phoebe were acting so strangely. Knowing him, he was probably going through all kinds of magical afflictions already, to come up with something that would explain their behaviour.

Before she could answer his question, however, she was cut short by her sister, who had pushed herself further into the room and was now glaring at Chris.

“Hey, what happened to… ow!” The last part of that sentence had been directed at Piper, who had effectively silenced the genie with a well aimed and quite hard nudge with her elbow.

“Hey, what did you do that for?” Sulking, the blonde rubbed her sore ribs, but didn’t receive any sympathy from her sister’s side. Instead, Piper grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back out into the corridor.

“Please excuse us for a moment,” was everything Piper had to say to Chris, before she shut the door in his face, not caring how obvious it had to be that she was keeping something from him.

As they were alone in the corridor, Piper’s mind was reeling while she tried to deny the conclusion for Chris’ behaviour her mind had come up with, but simply couldn’t. It was the only explanation that made sense, really. She took a deep breath to calm herself, before finally addressing Phoebe, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.

“He doesn’t know who I am.”

Judging by the perplexed look on her face, Phoebe wasn’t able to follow her sister’s logic.

“What are you talking about?” the genie asked in a bewildered tone. “Of course Chris knows who you are, he just called you ‘Piper’, didn’t he? I don’t know what you think happened in there, but Chris clearly remembered both of us,” she pointed out, only for Piper to shake her head in response.

 “No, you don’t understand, Phoebe. Obviously, Chris knows my name, knows that I’m a witch and so on, but he doesn’t know that I’m his mother.” She glanced over at the door to Wyatt’s room for a moment, still uncertain, before she continued. “Well, either that or he forgot that we know about his identity, but somehow I don’t believe that.”

Phoebe’s mouth opened as she was about to reply something, but then she hesitated as Piper’s words really seemed to sink in. When she finally did say something, she was scratching her head, pushing some blond strands of hair out of her face in the process.

“But… why? I don’t understand. You wish for Chris to be happy and he forgets that you’re his mother? That just doesn’t make any sense,” the genie argued.

As Piper didn’t know any answer to that question, either, she merely shrugged, feeling extremely worn out all of a sudden.

“I can’t explain it either, Phoebe,” she admitted, but then a thought occurred to her. “But you’re the one who granted the wish. So, if anyone knows what that did to Chris, it has to be you.”

Phoebe bit her lip as she seemed to ponder her sister’s question for a moment. When she answered, she did so very hesitantly.

“I… well… I’m not entirely sure, but I think that I erased all of Chris’ pain, and the causes for it, from his memories.”

It took Piper a while to reply anything to that as she tried to fight off the tears that were rushing to her eyes.

When she finally spoke her voice was trembling and sounded strangely constricted.

“And the fact that he is part of this family is apparently one of the things that caused him so much pain.”

 

* * *

 

Still slightly baffled, Chris stared at the closed door where only seconds ago two of the Charmed Ones had been standing. Although strange occurrences were nothing unusual in this house, as the fact that Phoebe was currently a genie proved all too clearly, Piper’s behaviour had confused him in a way he couldn’t explain.

He had merely called her by her name, what could have possibly been wrong with that? On top of that was Phoebe’s obvious concern when the two had entered the room. Something was going on here that he didn’t know about yet, but Chris wouldn’t have come this far if he had ever tended to give up easily.

At this thought he looked down at the small boy he was still holding and chuckled briefly. How strange it was that the man, who was his worst enemy in the future, seemed to trust him this unconditionally here as a toddler.

It would have been so easy to simply kill Wyatt and eradicate the threat he posed to the entire world once and for all, but although Chris had killed before, and to his dismay not always exclusively demons, he was not a ruthless killer. To kill an, at this point, completely innocent child was not in his nature and he would only do it if there was no other option left.

Also, he would hate to have to go against the Halliwells. While he would most likely be able to catch them off guard at first, seeing as they trusted him now, betraying the Charmed Ones was the last thing Chris wanted to do.

Luckily, though, his situation was not that desperate yet, and the young man fervently hoped that it would never come to that. In these last few months that he had spent as their whitelighter, the sisters had grown on him quite a lot and he didn’t want to hurt them under any circumstances or see them suffering.

As that included freeing them from any spells they might be under, the thought brought him back to his initial question of what was wrong with Piper and Phoebe. Chris put Wyatt back in his bed to go after the two witches and demand a real answer from them this time, but then he stopped dead in his tracks as he realised something.

Given the current situation, it was actually far more likely that it wasn’t a spell that had caused their weird behaviour, but rather a careless wish. Piper must have wished for something by accident that had in some way messed with her and Phoebe’s heads, and therefore probably Paige’s, too.

Well, either that, or…

Chris’ expression faltered as an unsettling idea manifested itself in his mind. What if not the sisters had been affected by the wish, but… him?

The two witches had come up here, because they had been worried about _him_. Something about _his_ behaviour had confused Piper and caused her to leave the room to talk with Phoebe in private.

It was the only logical conclusion, judging by what little information Chris had to go on. Something wasn’t right with him; something was off, but what?

The young man thought hard, racked his brain, but of course that was completely pointless. Whatever had been… changed about him, he wouldn’t be able to remember it. All he could do was ask someone else who did.

With two long strides, Chris crossed the rest of the way to the door and opened it forcefully, about to rush outside, but stopped abruptly when he realised that Piper and Phoebe were still standing right in front of the doorway.

 

* * *

 

The genie and her current master were still standing in the corridor, both visibly moved by their discovery. Ever since they had become witches they had had to learn first-hand that it wasn’t always easy to be a Halliwell, but at the same time it had always been their family that had supported them during these hard times.

Piper herself had wished more than once to live a life without magic, but to give up her sisters and her family for that? She couldn’t even begin to imagine being happy like that.

 _But Chris’ life is different than mine._ This thought burnt itself into Piper’s mind and stabbed into her heart as she stared at the door to Wyatt’s room. It was as if she could sense her son through the solid wood and get at least a vague idea of what he had been through in his world.

She herself had Phoebe and Paige at her side and in the past with Prue a big sister to whom she had always been able to look up to, but Chris didn’t have this connection between siblings. The brother who should have protected him had betrayed him, had betrayed them all and had become the biggest possible threat himself. Wyatt had trampled on everything the name Halliwell stood for and only now did Piper slowly begin to realise how much Chris must have suffered under his actions.

So much in fact, that his pain had almost eaten him up from the inside.

Despite the months he had spent here in this time and the distance he had brought between himself and Wyatt, Piper had always felt a kind of darkness surrounding the young man. In the beginning, before she had known who he really was, she hadn’t been able to explain her feeling and had been afraid that Chris might be dangerous, but now she knew better.

It had been all the pain, the guilt and the responsibility he had constantly been carrying around with him, always trying to conceal it, because there had been no one in this time that he could have confided in. Still wasn’t, really.

Of course Piper blamed herself for not preventing her own son from becoming a tyrant in Chris’ future, but as he never wanted to talk about any details concerning that, she didn’t even know what exactly had happened. After all, it hadn’t happened for her, yet.

Contrary to Chris. The young whitelighter had seen it with his own eyes, had witnessed his brother turning evil without being able to stop him. And according to his own words, the rest of his family hadn’t even noticed anything, until it had been too late.

Piper took a deep breath to calm herself and organise her thoughts. Only a few moments ago she had been angry and hurt – angry at herself and Phoebe that she had been so careless to make the wish and that her sister had fulfilled it and hurt that Chris didn’t recognise her as his mother and didn’t see himself as part of their family anymore.

However, even though these feelings were still there, there was also something else now, something that was growing stronger and was changing the way she was looking at everything.

Compassion. Understanding.

What, if it was better this way? If forgetting was really the only way for Chris to ever be at peace?

He could still remember a lot of things, their names, where he was, what was happening in the house at the moment, so he would probably also still know that he was here to protect Wyatt. Did it even matter then whether he knew the true reason for being here?

If it was less painful for Chris to protect a stranger from evil than his own brother, then Piper would accept that. Even more importantly, she would also make sure that everyone else accepted it, too.

All sadness and doubt vanished from Piper’s expression and made way for a resoluteness she always felt when the well-being of her family was concerned. Even if in this case it meant not to treat Chris like a member of her family anymore.

 

* * *

 

Phoebe was watching Piper with growing concern. Thanks to the potion Chris had gotten for them months ago, she couldn’t read her sisters’ emotion anymore – although she doubted that it would even work now as a genie – and yet she had never wanted to be able to use her empathic powers more than right now.

She could see how hard the situation was for Piper, but what mother would ever take it lightly if her own son didn’t remember her anymore? There seemed to be something else going on inside of her, though, and Phoebe could only hope that Piper was already coming up with a plan to fix this mess.

As far as she was concerned, another wish to undo Chris’ memory loss was the best way to go, Piper just had to make sure to get the words right to not make matters even worse without meaning to.

The genie wanted to say something, something to ease Piper’s grief and to stop her from blaming herself for Chris’ terrible past, but for once she couldn’t think of anything to say. And truth be told, Phoebe also knew too little about what happened in the future to completely eliminate the possibility that Piper, or maybe even herself and Paige had in some way contributed to Wyatt turning away from them and becoming a menace to the entire world. According to Chris, his brother had tended towards cruelty even when he was young, but all of them had been too blind, too impressed by the obvious power of the twice-blessed child to realise it.

“We’re not going to tell him.”

Piper’s determined voice abruptly pulled Phoebe out of her own thoughts.

“What?” Startled, the genie stared at her sister, certain that she couldn’t possibly have meant what it had sounded like. There was no way that Piper could even be considering not to undo the wish and to leave Chris in the dark about his true identity.

Piper’s expression remained unwavering as she replied, however, leaving no room for interpretation of her next words.

“If the memory of his family is that painful for Chris, I don’t think we should restore it. He’s already been through so much, Phoebe, and it’s still burdening him. He’s got the right to a second chance, a little peace of soul, and I’m not going to destroy that by reminding him that Wyatt is his own brother. If it’s easier for Chris this way, so be it.”

Piper raised her hands in a defensive manner, signalling that the matter was done for her, but the genie was not ready to give up this easily.

“But Piper, you’re talking about us here, about _you_. Chris can’t just forget his family, even his own mother and then simply continue living with us as if nothing happened.”

Piper sighed, obviously annoyed by Phoebe’s opposition, before she replied.

“Oh yes, he can. After all, you’re the one who made sure of that.”

The genie didn’t know what to answer to that, but she didn’t even get the opportunity to say anything, as the door to Wyatt’s room was suddenly ripped open and Chris stood in front of them.

He obviously hadn’t expected to still find them here, and was now staring at the two women no less surprised than they were looking at him.

Phoebe opened her mouth to say something, anything to ruin Piper’s crazy idea, but she never got the chance.

“Pheeps, go back downstairs into the bottle. Right now!” she commanded, giving Phoebe little choice in the matter.

“What? Oh, you can forget about… Yes, Master!” Against her will, the genie interrupted herself mid-sentence and shot her sister an angry glare, before she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned into a whirl of blue smoke that immediately vanished down the stairs in the direction of her bottle.

Contrary to Phoebe, Chris obviously didn’t have a problem with Piper misusing her control over her sister and so he gave her an appreciative grin.

“That was cool.”

For one moment the two just stood there in silence, until Chris’ expression suddenly darkened again. His brow furrowed, he was scrutinising the considerably smaller witch in front of him.

“Is everything alright, Piper? You seem… upset and you and Phoebe have been acting pretty weird. Did anything happen, like for example… a careless wish or something?”

Piper could feel the young man’s concern and ran a hand through her hair shakily, trying her best to hide her nervousness. Chris had put together what had happened much faster than she had imagined, but then again he still was a Halliwell, whether he knew it or not. Now she had to come up with a plausible explanation, before he became any more suspicious.

“No, no, don’t worry. Phoebe just had this feeling that something might be wrong, but I think her empathic powers are just going haywire, now that she’s a genie. You’re alright, aren’t you?” Piper waited until Chris nodded in reply before she continued. “Well, then everything is fine, isn’t it? You have no reason to be worried.”

With these words she turned away from the young whitelighter and went back downstairs, while thinking desperately about the best way to convince her sisters of her idea. Phoebe had obviously been anything but thrilled, but hopefully she would change her mind eventually.

After all, Piper was only doing this for Chris. Although the young man, who was currently watching her walk down the stairs warily, not really buying her explanation, obviously had no idea about any of this.

**To be continued…**


	12. Séance

“You did WHAT?” Shocked, Paige stared at her older sister. Had she not been the one who had repeatedly emphasised the importance of _not_ making a wish to a genie?

“It was an accident, alright?” Piper defended herself immediately.

“Well, then reverse it,” Paige demanded in reply, already fed up with them having to deal with yet another catastrophe.  She had intercepted Piper in the dining room, wondering where the older witch had vanished to, even though she was supposed to be working on their current problem with Jinny. Paige couldn’t believe that in the few minutes she had let her sister out of her sight, yet another problem had appeared on their ever growing list of issues to solve.

“Now that you’ve already made one wish, you might as well wish for Phoebe to take it back,” she continued in an annoyed tone. “It doesn’t matter now. Just try to word it more carefully this time.”

Piper took a deep breath before answering, her voice decisive as she spoke.

“No.”

“ _What_?” Paige was sure she must have misunderstood the intent of that reply. “Piper, are you insane? You can’t just wipe Chris’ memory and then leave it like that. You have no right to do that.”

“Just hear me out, Paige, alright? You weren’t there when Chris told Phoebe about his childhood. He never said anything about that time in his life before and he sounded so… so hurt. I don’t want him to have to keep living with that pain and if that’s only possible by making sure he doesn’t remember being part of our family, then so be it.”

Paige hesitated. At first she had been certain that her sister had gone crazy, but now she began to understand why she had made her decision. To see her own child suffer must have been unbearable for Piper and Paige had to admit that even to her Chris had never appeared to be particularly happy.

However, she had also seen how much it had meant to the young man to feel like a full-fledged member of the Halliwell family once again and to be accepted by all of them. Because although he had become a lot more than just their neurotic whitelighter from the future to them over the last few months, the discovery of Chris’ true identity had brought them all even closer together.

Paige didn’t doubt for one second that even if Chris actually associated, at least in part, painful memories with his family in his time, he’d rather have those, too, than not remember anything at all.

She herself had been hit hard by the deaths of her foster parents, but to forget the time with them in order to not having to deal with the pain of their loss was just unthinkable. She was sure that Chris, too, felt that way, or at least he did when he still knew that he even had a family.

Before Paige could even begin to explain this to Piper, however, she was interrupted by the chime of the door bell. The blonde rolled her eyes in annoyance. They already had more than enough to deal with without any visitors coming over uninvited.

Piper used the interruption to return to the kitchen and resume taking care of their demon problem, leaving Paige to go and answer the door. She was already preparing an excuse to send whoever it was away again, but when she opened the door, the witch was left speechless for a moment.

A giant bouquet of roses, carried by someone all too familiar was waiting outside and before she could even open her mouth to say anything, the visitor raised a hand to silence her.

“Paige, I know you’re still angry with me,” the dark haired man in front of her began, only to quickly add, “and you’ve got every right to be,” as he noticed that the witch was about to reply something. “I know you said we shouldn’t see each other for a while, but I’m here to apologise.”

“Richard, I…” Paige began, but she didn’t get any further, as the sorcerer interrupted her again immediately, an almost desperate expression on his face.

“Please, Paige, let me finish.” He paused for a moment, as if he was searching for the right words to convince her of his sincerity.

“I’ve thought a lot about what you said to me and I suppose you’re right. I do use magic a lot – too often probably – even for things that could easily be solved without it. But you have to understand that it used to be such a normal, everyday part of my life in the past that it always seems natural to resort to it.”

With a lopsided grin he added, “And you can’t deny that it really does make a lot of things easier.”

Although Paige tried to keep a straight face after all the arguments she had had with her boyfriend because of his excessive use of magic, she couldn’t help but smile at this remark. After all, she herself had regretted more than once not being allowed to use magic in her normal life more often.

After a short moment her expression became serious again, though, because the way Richard had been misusing magic recently wasn’t tolerable anymore, even for her, and there was certainly nothing funny about it.

The sorcerer seemed to notice her mood change and when he continued talking, he was completely sincere once more.

“But despite all that, I’m sure I can learn to only to use magic as an exception again; after all, you and your sisters manage to do that, too. Starting right now, I promise you I will be using my powers responsibly, and if not then…” he heaved a heavy sigh at this point, his next words clearly not coming easily, “… then I want you to bind them.”

Paige stared at Richard in surprise, not knowing what to think of his declaration. She certainly never would have expected it. Even though she had already contemplated to take his powers away as a final solution, the idea that he might actually suggest this on his own hadn’t crossed her mind before. Was he serious about this? Was he really willing to give up magic altogether?

Richard could apparently see her doubts, as he now stepped closer to her and took the witch’s hand gently in his own.

“I would rather give up my magical powers, the books and everything else my family left me than to risk losing you. I love you, Paige.”

He might have wanted to kiss her after this, but the young woman didn’t want to wait to find out. Within a heartbeat she had her arms wrapped around Richard’s neck and pulled him closer while she pressed her lips against his passionately. All the tension between them of the past few weeks was gone and Paige remembered once again why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

For some reason the sorcerer was trying to back away from her, though, and – slightly irritated – Paige could understand him muttering the words “the roses” between her heated kisses. It took her a second to realise what he meant, but then she finally loosened her hold on the dark haired man, a half amused, half guilty expression on her face.

“Oh,” was everything the witch had to say when she looked down at the crushed bundle of thorned stems and red petals that Richard was still holding. She had completely forgotten about the flowers on the spur of the moment and had pressed them between their bodies, giving them a rather squashed appearance.

Laughing, Paige took Richard’s hand and pulled him inside the house in the direction of the kitchen, where she wanted to search for a vase for the roses.  At least for a moment she was glad to have a little distraction from the chaos that was going on around her. After what had happened in the manor in the past few minutes alone, Paige was sure to be the only sane person left here.

Chris, who had been lying to all of them for the past few months about his true identity couldn’t remember it himself now; Phoebe, whose current dress-up was even more outrageous than her usual attire, was still confined to her bottle by her master; and Piper… well Piper was a whole other matter.

Paige knew that her sister had only had good intentions when she had decided not to reverse her accidental wish, but as soon as there was a quiet moment, she would still have to give her a piece of her mind and emphasise what a stupid idea that had been.

For now, however, Paige simply ignored the dark haired witch, who was currently sitting at the table with a pen and paper, still working on the spell they wanted to use to summon Jinny. She and Richard exchanged a short greeting while Paige was busy rummaging through the cupboards on the search for a suitable vase for the flowers.

Richards looked at the two sisters who both had their backs turned to him, completely engrossed in their respective tasks. Although there was no clear indication for it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was currently more going on in the Halliwells Manor than just a routine demon hunt.

Especially Piper seemed to be more distant than usual, as if she was somewhere else entirely with her mind, but he had no idea what could be bothering her. Since his fight with Paige a few days ago there had been complete silence between them, so he didn’t even know if anything important had happened recently.

Judging by the almost palpable tension between the sisters, however, he suspected that it had.

While Paige was still going through the cupboards in search of a vase large enough to fit the entire bouquet of flowers Richard had brought her, his eyes fell on the pink bottle standing on the counter. He picked it up without hesitation and turned to Paige with a small grin playing on his lips.

“You could put a few of the roses in here, although I guess the colours might clash.”

He had expected a reaction from Paige or possibly even from Piper, but the sorcerer almost dropped the bottle when he suddenly heard an answer coming from inside of it.

“Don’t you dare! If you even think about pouring water in here, you’re gonna have to deal with me first. Do we understand each other, Mister?”

Shocked, Richard stared at the item in his hand, which he now held as far away from him as possible, just in case it might pose a threat of any kind. However, the voice was silent again and nothing else indicated any activity inside of what he had – obviously falsely – thought to be a vase.

“What the…? What is that?”

The laughter of the two present witches brought Richard out of his stupor and he looked up just in time to see Piper walking over to him, before she took the bottle out of his hand, still visibly amused, and put it back on the table.

“Oh, that’s just Phoebe. Ignore her,” the oldest of the Charmed Ones instructed with a soft chuckle.

Still feeling perplexed, Richard looked from one sister to the other, waiting for a better explanation. Before Paige or Piper could say anything, though, the genie from inside the bottle spoke up again.

“Well, thanks a lot, Piper. There he is, trying to drown me, and the only thing you have to say to that is, that he should ignore me? That’s not what I would call sisterly love, you know?”

Instead of reacting to the accusation, Piper simply rolled her eyes and resumed working on the spell, finally giving Paige the opportunity to explain.

“We’ve been having some problems with a genie, who later turned out to be a demon, and to prevent her bottle from falling into the hands of _another_ demon, Phoebe was so kind to wish her free. The catch being that she had to take her place instead and now we’ve got a dangerous demon on the loose and a sister who takes every wish you say by accident literally.”

With a glance at the witch still sitting at the table, she added, “Isn’t that right, Piper?”

The only reply Paige received from her older sister, however, was an icy glare, before Piper turned back to the spell she was writing.

Richard raised an eyebrow at the silent exchange, wondering whether he was allowed to ask what this was all about or if it was an internal dispute between siblings that was none of his business. In the end Paige took the decision from him as she answered his unspoken question.

“You see, Piper here made a wish, because she wasn’t watching her mouth, and now she’s partly erased her son’s memories and refuses to reverse it.” At these words, the blond young woman had crossed her arms in front of her chest and was now looking at her sister accusingly, even though the latter continued to ignore her.

“What?” Richard asked incredulously. “Why would you want to erase Wyatt’s memories?”

Now it was Paige’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Not Wyatt’s, Chris’!” she pointed out, only increasing Richard’s confusion. In the direction of her sister she added, “And why she would want to do that I don’t understand, either.”

Richard wasn’t really listening anymore, though. His head was spinning. He stared at Paige, then at Piper, unsure if he had understood his girlfriend correctly.

“Chris… is your son?” he asked in disbelief.

It was this question that finally got the dark haired witch out of her pretended indifference and she fixated Richard with a piercing glare that almost made him take a step back from her.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know that anymore, so you are not going to mention anything to him, is that clear?”

The sorcerer just nodded absentmindedly and let himself sink onto one of the kitchen chairs.

He was used to the fact by now that there was always something happening in the Halliwell Manor, but he certainly hadn’t seen this coming. Of course he had known that the young whitelighter was from the future, but Richard never would have expected him to be such a close family member of the sisters. Chris had played his part too well for that.

Then again, it must have been quite a risk to travel through time to come here and save Wyatt from the influence of evil. In that regard it made perfect sense for it to be a relative who had taken that risk.

What didn’t make any sense at all, however, was Piper’s behaviour. Why would she not want Chris to remember that he was her son?

Even from his limited insight into the life of the Charmed Ones, Richard knew that Piper had had her problems with the young man, but their relationship had clearly improved a lot over the course of the last few months. The last time he had been at the manor, it had seemed to him as if Piper had really liked Chris, or had he been that mistaken?

Whatever it was that was keeping Piper from reversing her wish would have to wait until later, though, because the oldest of the Charmed Ones got up from her seat now, the piece of paper she had been writing on in hand, and turned to her younger sister.

“The spell is done, but before we summon Jinny we still need a cooperative ghost; any ideas?”

Paige shrugged as she went through the list of possible candidates.

“What about Grams? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a little action.”

Piper thought about the suggestion for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I suppose that’s the best option. She won’t ask too many questions and should be able to help us quickly.”

“What do you need a ghost for?” Richard inquired curiously.

“Since whoever wishes Phoebe free will also have to take her place, Jinny is hardly going to do it voluntarily,” Paige explained. “So a ghost – in this case Grams – will have to possess her first to give her a little push.”

At this point Piper chimed in again, her tone darkened with concern.

“It’s a simple enough plan, but there’s always something that can go wrong. I don’t want Wyatt in the house when we summon a demon as powerful as Jinny. Could you bring him to Magic School, Paige, while I’ll prepare everything here?”

“Sure, not a problem,” the blonde witch replied, this time actually on board with Piper’s protective behaviour. Instead of heading out of the kitchen immediately, though, she turned to Richard first, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Will you wait here?” she asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice.

The sorcerer smiled. Now that he had finally reconciled with Paige, he wasn’t planning on leaving her again anytime soon.

“Of course, I’m not going anywhere. Plus, seeing as you don’t have the Power of Three at the moment, it’s at least possible that you might need my help. So I’ll be staying right here for as long as you want me to.”

“Good,” Paige replied with a small nod, looking genuinely happy at his answer. She placed a quick kiss on Richard’s lips before she finally left the room and headed upstairs to pick up her small nephew.

 

* * *

 

Paige had orbed out of the house only a few moments ago, when Piper and Richard headed up the stairs to the attic, her carrying Phoebe’s bottle and the spell she had written to deal with Jinny. The sorcerer had offered to help with the preparations for the summoning, but he was barely through the doorway as he stopped, realising that they weren’t alone.

Chris had been studying something in the Book of Shadows, but looked up when he noticed the two new arrivals. His eyes rested on Richard for a moment, as he was obviously surprised to see the sorcerer here. He greeted him briefly, but then his attention focused back on Piper and the things she was carrying.

“Did you find a way to turn Phoebe back to normal?” he wondered, indicating the piece of paper in the witch’s hand.

Piper nodded curtly and looked down at the spell she had written, intend on avoiding eye contact with her son. Now that she knew who he was and after everything that had happened last night it wasn’t easy to treat him like an almost stranger again. Nevertheless, she had made her decision and was adamant to go through with it. After all it was only for his best.

“Yes, I’m going to summon Grams so she can posses Jinny once we get her here and force her to set Phoebe free. Though, obviously we’ll wait until Paige comes back from Magic School before we call the demon. With Phoebe still stuck in those pantaloons, she’s not going to be of much help, after all,” Piper pointed out as she put the genie’s bottle aside.

“Hey, I heard that!” Phoebe protested from inside her tiny current home, but her sister and the others ignored her as they began their preparations for the spell.

Chris nodded in recognition of Piper’s plan and a few minutes later they were standing in front of a circle of lit candles, ready to summon the Charmed Ones’ grandmother into this world once more.

Piper felt as if she was doing this for the hundredths time, when she began to recite the all too familiar words, causing dozens of lights to start dancing in the space between the candles.

“Hear these words,

Hear my cries,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me,

I summon—”

The lights continued to shine brightly for another brief moment as Piper suddenly stopped the incantation, but then they quickly faded away again, leaving only empty space behind. The witch hadn’t fallen silent by choice, though. Instead, the appearance of several Arabic dressed demons and the need to evade their sword attacks had forced her to do so.

Piper barely had time to catch her breath as without warning a full-out fight erupted inside the attic. She had just barely dodged the first attack, when a second later Chris pushed her aside, saving her from another demon, who had tried to strike at her from behind.

The young man managed to ward off the attack with the help of a lamp standing close by, but neither he nor Piper noticed how Jinny herself materialised in the attic. The demon paid only little attention to the fight around her, however, and instead went directly for the bottle with Phoebe still inside that was standing on a dresser in the corner.

Richard was the only one who spotted Jinny in time and he managed to throw her against the wall with a flick of his wrist, thereby keeping her away from her target. He probably would have been able to keep her in check for a while longer, if one of the other demons hadn’t used his distraction to his advantage and sent the sorcerer to the ground with a well aimed strike to his back.

Richard cried out in anguish as the blade pierced his flesh, but after only a moment the pain made him lose consciousness. His opponent apparently thought him dead; at least he didn’t bother to make sure of it and instead went on to attack Piper, who was still on the ground after Chris had pushed her out of the way. However, he didn’t get very far as the witch raised her hands to make him explode on the spot.

Piper let her eyes wander across the room, from Chris, who was currently fighting off two demons at once, to Richard, who was gravely injured, and finally to Jinny, whom she noticed now for the first time.

Piper’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of the demon. Jinny was standing away from the fighting, a triumphant expression on her face and in her hand the pink bottle with Phoebe inside. Before Piper had any time to react, the other woman gave her a derisive smile and then vanished as quickly and silently as she had appeared in the first place.

 

* * *

 

White-blue light in one of the corridors of Magic School announced Paige’s appearance moments before she and Wyatt materialised completely. Once she had taken solid form again, the blond witch headed towards the local kindergarten right away, not wanting to waste another second until she could return home and help Piper with summoning Jinny. It was about time that they returned Phoebe to her usual self, after all.

Not to mention, she still had to talk Piper out of the giant mistake she was making with Chris right now, but that would have to wait until later, once Paige had her empath sister as backup again.

Before the young woman had made it to her destination, however, she was held back by the sound of her name coming down the corridor.

“Paige! What are you doing here? Did something happen?” Gideon was standing a few meters behind the witch and was scrutinising her and the little boy in her arms, a mixture of surprise and concern clouding his features.

“No, don’t worry, it’s just that we’re going to summon a demon at home and Piper wants to make sure Wyatt’s safe,” Paige explained, reassuring the Elder. “That’s why she asked me to take him here for a while.” With a small sigh she added, “She’s just a little over-protective concerning her sons at the moment, that’s all.”

Gideon’s eyebrows rose as he heard Paige’s words and the faintest of smiles spread on his lips.

“Her _sons_?” he asked carefully, clearly not entirely sure if he had understood her correctly.

Shocked and embarrassed at once, the witch put a hand over her mouth and stared at the Elder with wide eyes.

“Oh, ehm… well, I’m pretty sure that I shouldn’t have said that right now, especially since Leo doesn’t even know about it yet. Please, just… forget what I said, alright?” she begged the headmaster of Magic School, but his smile broadened even further as he answered the young woman.

“You mean that Chris is Piper’s and Leo’s son? Is that what I’m supposed to forget again?”

Completely dumbfounded, Paige just stood there for a long moment, her mouth slightly agape, until she found her voice again.

“What? How do you…? Did Chris tell you?” Her words sounded mostly surprised, but the witch couldn’t completely hide the fact that she was also a little hurt. Had Chris really confided his secret to Gideon, someone he barely knew, instead of his own family? The Elder seemed to sense what she was thinking and hurried to explain why he knew about Chris’ identity.

“No, he didn’t tell me, he just confirmed it. We know that Chris comes from about twenty years into the future and after I found out that he is not only a whitelighter, but also part witch, it seemed quite obvious to me that he is actually a Halliwell, given his age and his attachment to you all. I merely wasn’t sure whether he was your son or Piper’s and he was so kind to confirm the latter.”

Paige stared at Gideon in silence once more, feeling like a complete idiot. The way the Elder had now listed the clues for Chris’ identity, it really seemed to be the most logical conclusion ever, that he was related to them. How could she possibly not have seen this? Her chain of thought was interrupted, however, as Gideon went back to something she had previously said.

“But what do you mean with Piper being ‘over-protective’? Isn’t it normal for a mother to want to protect her children?”

“Yes, of course it is,” Paige agreed, rolling her eyes at the thought of Piper’s current stubborn behaviour. “But, long story short: there’s a genie involved in all this, and because Chris has apparently gone through a lot of bad stuff in his past, Piper wished for him to forget all that and now he doesn’t even know he’s her son anymore. In fact, he’s completely forgotten that he’s part of our family at all. And to make matters worse, Piper has this insane idea that it’s better for him this way, so she refuses to take the wish back.”

The expression on Gideon’s face had gone from slightly concerned to utterly bewildered during Paige’s narration, but the witch made a throwaway gesture as she continued.

“Just… don’t worry about it, okay? As soon as Phoebe is herself again we’ll make sure to bring Piper back to her senses.” At this point Paige stopped, reminding herself that she was actually in a hurry and gave the Elder an apologetic smile before she turned to leave.

“But for now you’ll have to excuse me, Gideon, I really have to drop Wyatt off and get back to my sisters. I’m sure they’re already waiting.”

“Yes, of course,” the Elder agreed, nodding in reply. “Good luck with the demon.”

“Thanks.”

However, just as Paige was about to resume her way to the school’s kindergarten, she suddenly felt a tingling sensation all over her body, like each time she was orbing. Only that it wasn’t herself who had caused it this time. Instead, Wyatt had decided to bring both of them back to the Halliwell Manor immediately, without Paige having so much as a clue as to what was awaiting her there.

**To be continued…**


	13. Desperate Times, Desperate...

His robes billowed behind him as Gideon headed through the halls of Magic School in the direction of his office. A confident smile was playing on his lips as he once more contemplated the next steps in his plan to eliminate the Halliwell offspring.

Knowing that Chris had come to this time to prevent Wyatt from ever becoming a threat, he had already toyed with the idea of making the young man a pawn in his game. However, ever since he had found out that the two were brothers, every hope he had had of being able to persuade the Charmed Ones’ whitelighter to kill Wyatt seemed to have been in vain. Even if he would have been able to convince Chris that there was no more hope for Wyatt to stay on the side of good, the Elder highly doubted that the young man would have been able to kill his own brother in cold blood. After all, Gideon knew all too well how strong the familial bonds between the Halliwells were.

Now, though, his luck finally seemed to have turned. If Chris truly didn’t remember being a Halliwell anymore, Gideon figured that there just might be a way to convince him of the fact that there was no other way left to stop Wyatt than to get rid of him for good. It was only a matter of finding the right approach.

He actually had high hopes that Chris would be able to get the job done, but even if he should fail against expectations – maybe get killed by the sisters in the heat of the moment – it would mean one less problem for the Elder to solve. Either way, as far as Gideon was concerned, it was a win-win situation.

Now he only had to find a way to give Chris a push in the right direction, without the possibility of anything being traced back to him. When Gideon closed the door of his office behind him, however, he already had an idea. Maybe it was time for a more unorthodox collaboration…

 

* * *

 

When Paige materialised again, she found herself in the middle of the attic inside the Halliwell manor. Completely perplexed, she stared down at the young boy in her arms, who had brought them both here without her consent, but only a short moment later, her attention was caught by what was going on around her.

The first thing she became aware of once her surroundings were clearly visible again, was Piper blowing up an Arabic dressed demon who was currently attacking Chris. Not that her assistance seemed to be all that necessary, as the young man could obviously handle himself well enough. Judging by the state of the attic, however, this demon had surely not been the only attacker. Candles and other spell accessories were littered across the floor and several scorch marks on the carpet revealed the spots where other demons had already met their demise.

“Are you alright?” Paige asked in shock once the threat was gone, crossing the small distance between herself, her sister and her nephew in the process. At first glance, the two seemed to be unharmed, but that didn’t stop Paige from worrying nevertheless.

“I was just about to drop Wyatt off in Magic School when he suddenly brought us back here. I know you wanted him out of the house, Piper, I’m so sorry,” she explained hastily, annoyed that her small nephew was sabotaging their efforts to keep him out of harm’s way.

At this point, the oldest of the Charmed Ones took her son out of her sister’s arms, her expression much more serious than Paige had expected. A dark sense of foreboding overcame the blonde witch, becoming even worse when Piper suddenly grasped her hand.

“It’s fine, Paige, I know how stubborn Wyatt can be. And you don’t have to worry about Chris and me, we’re alright, but—”

“Where’s Richard?” Paige asked in a shaky voice, cutting her sister off mid-sentence as her mind finally made the connection between Piper’s concerning behaviour and her boyfriend’s absence.

Piper opened her mouth to answer, but ultimately remained silent, apparently at a loss for words. Her eyes, however, spoke volumes, as they wandered from her sister’s face to a spot on the ground several feet behind her.

The horrible sensation in Paige’s chest was so intense now, it was making it hard for her to breathe. She was afraid of what was expecting her behind her and with the feeling that each of her movements was taking forever, she followed Piper’s line of sight and slowly turned around.

Not even three feet from the spot where Paige had appeared moments ago, Richard was lying motionlessly on the ground, his back toward her. The large pool of blood that had formed underneath his body was expanding with a terrifying speed.

Paige freed herself from her sister’s grasp and hurried to her boyfriend’s side. After everything had been happening in slow motion for a moment, the world appeared to be making up for that now by speeding things up to twice their usual rate.

Before she even knew what was happening, Paige was already kneeling behind Richard and gently stroked across his cheek, trying to wake him. Tears were running down her face, blurring her sight, as heart-wrenching sobs shook her body.

The half-whitelighter could feel as Piper sat beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder in a consoling manner, but Paige shook it off immediately; she just couldn’t bear the touch at the moment.

This couldn’t be happening. It simply couldn’t. How could Richard be dead when she had spoken to him not even ten minutes ago? She tried to believe that maybe there was still hope, maybe he was still alive, but there was so much blood and he was so pale…

Finally, after several agonisingly long seconds, Paige leaned over the motionless man and felt with trembling fingers for a pulse at his neck. She was completely quiet now, didn’t even dare to breathe, while she was desperately waiting for a sign that there was still some life left in her boyfriend’s body.

There! Faint and barely noticeable, but she was certain that she had felt his pulse. Without even thinking about it, Paige moved her hands a few inches over Richard’s wound and tried to focus on healing him. Sure, she had never been able to do that before, but she was the daughter of a whitelighter after all. That ability just had to be hidden somewhere inside of her.

However, nothing happened. No glowing, no nothing.

“Paige… you can’t…” She heard the sympathetic words of her sister, but there was no comfort in them.

“I know!” Paige muttered, her voice constricted with another sob, before she pulled Richard closer, so his upper body was resting in her lap. She wrapped her arms around his chest and lowered her head to press her forehead against his, the tears she continued to shed disappearing into his hair.

She could barely hear how Piper kept calling for her ex-husband repeatedly to try and still save Richard. Instead, she let herself be overwhelmed by her grief, only one thought in her mind that she whispered over and over again with a hoarse voice, like a mantra, as if it could change anything about what happened.

“I love you… I love you… I love you…”

 

* * *

 

Chris watched the events in front of him in silence, knowing there was nothing he could do. Just like Paige, he had never been able to utilise the healing abilities of a whitelighter, so he could imagine how powerless she had to be feeling right now. He could only hope that Piper’s efforts to reach Leo would be successful, even though the Elder still hadn’t shown up despite her repeated calls.

Chris heaved a heavy sigh as he took a few steps away from the sisters and Richard, a floorboard creaking underneath his feet. He knew for a fact that he had never lost anyone he loved himself, and yet, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he could relate to Paige’s grief all too well. There was something about her pain and desperation, something frighteningly familiar, but he couldn’t place it, try as he might.

As he glanced over to the blonde woman on the floor and the dying man in her arms once more, however, his attention was focused back on them in an instant, the weird feeling from before all but forgotten.

Given Piper’s position behind Paige, Chris was the first to notice the sudden change. Not even the young woman herself seemed to have realised that a soft glowing light had started to emit from her hands, becoming stronger with every word she spoke.

Chris could feel the tension falling off his shoulders at the sight and he sighed deeply once again, although this time in relief. A smile was tugging at his lips as he stepped next to Piper to lay a hand on her shoulder.

“Wait,” he whispered softly, causing the witch to stop calling for Leo for the moment. As she looked up to Chris with a confused expression on her face, he nodded in Paige’s direction, causing Piper to follow his line of sight.

Now she, too, could see the light coming from her sister’s hands and they both watched as it kept spreading further, covering Richard’s wound. Slowly but surely the blood that had been soaking his clothes and the floor disappeared, leaving the sorcerer unharmed.

 

* * *

 

“Paige.”

As she heard her name uttered from below her, the witch opened her eyes, lifted her head a few inches and finally froze when her eyes met Richard’s. For a long moment she just kept staring at him in bewilderment, couldn’t believe that he was still with her, while tears continued to run down her face.

Her disbelief only vanished when Richard smiled at her and lifted a hand to caress her cheek, his thumb wiping away the salty drops. He held her gaze captive and very slowly Paige’s face lit up with a smile as well. In a heartbeat she took a hold of his hand and pressed it against her cheek, not wanting to let go, as another sob escaped her throat. This time, however, it was from happiness.

Richard was alive. He wasn’t dead. And in this moment it didn’t matter who or what had saved him, the only thing that mattered was that he wasn’t gone.

Overwhelmed with joy, Paige leaned down to Richard and kissed him, long and passionately, completely forgetting what was going on around her.

 

* * *

 

Genie-Phoebe was pacing the inside of her bottle, slowly but surely about to panic. There was something happening outside, she knew her sisters needed her help, but nobody had really talked to her since Piper had sent her back in here, let alone released her.

Only a moment ago there had been voices and the sounds of a fight, but now it was alarmingly silent around her and Phoebe already feared the worst. She was about to call for her sisters once more, but was cut short by an imperious voice from right outside her bottle. When she looked up, the genie could vaguely make out the face of her predecessor looking down at her.

“I hope you like pink, because you are going to stay in there for a very long time,” Jinny promised with a sardonic grin on her lips, before she fell silent for a moment. She seemed to be pondering something, but after just a few seconds her grin widened even more, sending an icy sensation down Phoebe’s spine.

“Now, genie, let’s start with my first wish,” the demon announced, clearly enjoying herself. “I’m honestly curious to see what you’ll think of being an only child.”

Frozen in terror, Phoebe stared up at her new master. She couldn’t do anything to prevent this wish, absolutely nothing. Any second now she would be forced to kill her own sisters. Panicking, the young woman tried to come up with something to say to dissuade Jinny from her plan. But what could she possibly say to stop a demon from using this unique opportunity to get rid of two of the Charmed Ones?

Phoebe was still thinking hard as the new owner of her bottle started her wish, sounding immensely triumphant.

“Genie, I wish—” but Jinny didn’t get any further as the excited voice of one of her underlings suddenly interrupted her. The demon seemed to have come running, as he had to stop talking several times to take a breath.

“Mistress… Mistress! We… found… we found it! Zanbar!”

 

* * *

 

There were loud and terrified screams echoing through one of the many caves of the underworld. While that wasn’t anything unusual in itself, in this case a non-participant observer might have wondered what the demon, who was screaming like this, was even afraid of. There was no attacker in sight nor any other visible reason that would explain why he was backing away with arms raised in front of his face, all the while emitting terror filled noises.

Once the demon’s back hit a solid rock wall, the look of terror on his face finally froze and he dropped to the ground, dead. Flames burst from the body instantaneously, as was normal for a creature of the underworld, and nothing but smoke and ash remained.

“Hm, it’s just not the same.”

These words were spoken by a man completely dressed in black, with short greyed hair, who now emerged from behind a rock formation in the cave. His face showed a disappointed and bored expression while he watched the remains of the weak demon he had just literally scared to death.

It really wasn’t the same. In the past he had used to make witches suffer through their worst fears, thereby killing them and now he had to restrict himself to torturing a few feeble demons every now and then to pass the time. He couldn’t believe what had become of him.

However, he was fully aware that should he leave the underworld and go after witches again, it would only be a matter of time until the Charmed Ones would learn of his return from the land of the dead and hunt him down once again. He preferred to take a pass on that.

After all, he thought with a smile, they were still mortal. They wouldn't be around forever. Sooner or later one of them would bite the dust and then it would be his time once again. All he needed until then was a little patience, even if it meant spending the next fifty years killing lowly demons. It still beat being killed himself.

The demon threw another disparaging glance at the pile of ash on the ground before he turned to leave the cave, but then a male voice behind him made him stop dead in his tracks.

“What seems to be the problem? Is killing your own kind not as satisfactory as torturing innocents?”

Barbas let his gaze wander over his surroundings, his wariness increasing as he came up empty. He knew the mysterious voice must have come from only a few meters in front of him and he certainly wasn’t fooled by the fact that he couldn’t see anyone. Given his visitor’s use of the word ‘innocents’, he was also rather certain that it wasn’t another demon he was dealing with here. After all, nobody liked using this term as much as those _up there_.

“Well, first of all, neither do I consider puny creatures like this one”, he indicated the ashen remains of the demon, “as ‘my own kind’, nor do I believe that there is anyone among the humans truly deserving the word ‘innocent’. Secondly I have to point out that you are here in my world right now, and I can’t remember asking for your input. So, unless you want me to kick your invisible butt, I suggest you take the fastest way out of here right now.”

That was everything the demon intended to say on the matter, but his visitor was clearly not willing to leave empty-handed.

“There is no reason for that much anger, Barbas. I am here to offer you a deal we would both benefit from.”

The dark clad demon threw a contemptuous glance in the direction where he suspected his opponent and snorted, irritated.

“If you really expect me to negotiate about anything with some voice floating around, you will find that you are very mistaken. Show yourself or get out!”

“Only if I have your word that you will listen to what I have to say,” the invisible man demanded in return.

Barbas thought about this for a moment, but finally nodded, albeit reluctantly. At this point, though, he was far too curious to back out.

“Alright, you have it.”

The demon of fear had to admit, he was surprised as he recognised the man who now appeared in front of him. While he had already suspected him to be an Elder, he would never have thought that Gideon, the director of Magic School himself, would come down here to collaborate with a demon. And yet, his visitor’s robes left little doubt as to his identity.

A sly grin spread on Barbas’ lips as he wondered about the reason that could have brought the Elder down here. Against his recent expectations, his imminent future might not turn out to be that boring and eventless, after all.

 

* * *

 

“Still nothing?”

Piper rolled her eyes in annoyance as her sister, who was pacing nervously beside her, asked her the same question for the fourth time in the last five minutes. She continued to let the crystal pendulum in her hand circle over the world map on the table in front of her.

“No, Paige, I still haven’t found anything. And if you ask me that one more time…” The witch let the threat hang in the air, causing Paige to turn around to her in a huff, hands on her hips.

“Oh, please excuse me for being worried after a demon, who would probably like nothing more than to see us dead, just kidnapped our wish-granting sister. I don’t know about you, but I’m actually a little surprised that we’re even still alive. Not that I would want to encourage her, but why doesn’t Jinny just wish for the two of us to die? I mean, she’s got the power to do it, right?”

At a complete loss, she looked from Piper to Chris and Richard, who were both standing beside the table with the map as well, waiting for the oldest Charmed One to find her missing sister. The young whitelighter shrugged before answering Paige.

“Maybe she wants to save her wishes for something else and doesn’t think you’re still a threat to her.”

In this very moment the scrying crystal went down on the world map with a satisfying ‘clack’, landing on a desert area somewhere in Syria. Piper lifted her eyes from the map triumphantly and looked around at the others.

“Well, should that be the case, I think it’s about time that we prove her wrong.” She headed over to the shelf where they kept their vanquishing potions with a few quick strides and armed herself, then turned around to her son and Richard.

“Somebody has to look out for Wyatt, while Paige and I get Phoebe back. It would take too long to try again to get him to Magic School, and who knows if he wouldn’t just orb back here anyway.” Directed at her sister, she added, “We should go immediately, because you’re right, Jinny’s got the means to kill us at any moment and I really don’t want to push our luck any further.”

Chris picked up a sword belonging to one of their dead attackers and made a point to position himself beside Paige.

“I’m guessing that Jinny’s got an entire army of demons by now that is going to fight for her, which means you’re gonna need all the help you can get.” He smiled, obviously certain of their success, and with anticipation of a fight shining in his eyes. “So, seeing as I’m your whitelighter, and it’s actually in my job description that I have to look out for you…”

Paige raised an eyebrow as she looked the young man up and down.

“Alright, Mr., if you’re that hell-bent on going up against a huge bunch of angry demons.” Then she went over to Richard and gently took his hand in hers.

“Is it alright if you stay here? I know you don’t like staying on the sidelines.”

The sorcerer freed one of his hands from the young woman’s grasp and cupped her cheek in response.

“I don’t like seeing you head into danger without me, but yeah, it’s alright. Someone has to look after your nephew and I did promise not to use magic that much anymore.” Then he leaned forward and kissed Paige gently. “Just be careful, okay? You know your new power isn’t going to work on yourself.”

The female half-whitelighter had to smile as she thought of her newest ability that had saved her boyfriend’s life only minutes ago. After she had tried it so many times unsuccessfully, her heritage had finally manifested itself the moment she had needed it the most. Paige couldn’t even begin to put into words how grateful she was for that.

“It won’t need to. I’ll be careful, I promise.” With that she turned away from Richard and stepped back over to Piper and Chris, who were already waiting for her. Paige took her sister’s hand and orbed them both into the direction of the Middle East, Chris following along.

 

* * *

 

The three demons that were present in the cave the Halliwells materialised in a short time later didn’t even see the attack coming. Before they could so much as turn around to the new arrivals, Piper had already blown them up, but in that exact moment another one of Jinny’s fighters entered through one of the adjoining tunnels.

He, too, met his end quickly, through one of the vanquishing potions thrown by Paige, but he managed to scream for help just in time, alerting the entire cave system.

With a fling of his arm, Chris threw the first two of the three dozen demons that soon rushed into the cave to the ground, taking a few of the others down with them, but most of them continued to head directly for the two witches and their whitelighter.

“Sword!”

Paige disarmed one of her attackers and gave him a taste of his own weapon, but before this demon had even burst into flames, another one had already taken its place. Their superiority in numbers was almost overwhelming, but none of the demons was even remotely powerful enough to be a match especially to Piper’s powers. Before most of them knew what was happening, they had already been reduced to a pile of dust on the floor.

While the witch was busy blowing up single demons or small groups of them, which was getting increasingly exhausting for her, neither she nor Paige noticed as three of Jinny’s fighters managed to advance on Chris so far that he was literally with his back against the wall.

The whitelighter was still fighting with the sword he had taken from one of the dead demons earlier and at first he managed to defend himself without problems. After a while, however, the blade of one of his enemies hit his right arm, making it harder for Chris to hold his own weapon, let alone ward off attacks with it.

The young man gritted his teeth and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead as the fight was getting more and more challenging. Out of the corner of his eye he had already seen that both Piper and Paige were having their hands full and would hardly be able to come to his aid, meaning that he would have to deal with his attackers on his own. So he did his best to ignore the pain in his arm and the blood running from the wound and continued fighting.

Taking out the demons attacking him was easier said than done, but in the end Chris used their numerical superiority to his advantage, as he orbed himself away at the right moment, causing his first opponent to take out one of his own comrades instead. While the demon was still startled by his mistake, Chris reacted immediately once he had taken solid form again. He delivered a fatal blow to his distracted enemy without wasting a second, thereby leaving only one more demon he had to deal with. 

When he pulled his sword out of the dying body, however, this last demon seized his chance to attack, forcing Chris to parry the blow with a desperate move that made him loose his balance. A second later, he found himself crashing to the ground, his weapon slipping from his grasp. It landed on the floor with a loud clatter and skidded out of his reach faster than Chris could react.

Before the young whitelighter could even think about getting it back using his telekinetic powers, he realised his opponent was already standing above him, ready to strike. Chris closed his eyes as he saw the deadly sword blow rushing down at him and started to orb instinctively to avoid the blade, but knew that he wouldn’t make it in time.

He was expecting the pain, but to his great surprise and relief, it never came. Instead, he heard Piper’s angry voice thundering through the cave.

“Don’t you dare!”

Chris quickly rolled to the side as his attacker exploded above him, to avoid the blast, then steadied himself against the wall as he stood back up. He was just about to thank Piper for her help, but was effectively stunned into silence as he looked around.

The cave that had only seconds ago been filled with at least ten demons was now completely empty except for the Halliwells. At a few spots the burnt remains of their enemies were still visible, raining to the ground slowly.

With an impressed whistle, Chris went over to the two witches, while scanning the area once more to make sure that they had actually gotten rid of all the demons. However, there was no one left beside the three of them and so they left the cave through the tunnel the demons had come from to resume their search for Jinny and Phoebe.

**To be continued…**


	14. Crime and Punishment

Chris followed the two witches in a small distance, making sure that they wouldn’t be surprised from behind by another attack. Instead of concentrating on any possible pursuers, however, his eyes kept wandering back to his right arm that Paige had healed a few minutes ago.

The young woman had only had her magical powers for a few years, and yet she had already discovered the ability to heal within herself. Even Wyatt possessed it since he had been a child, although he barely used it, given his merciless nature.

Only he, Chris Perry, couldn’t do it, even though he was part whitelighter as well, just like the two of them. He wasn’t able to heal even the smallest scratch, no matter how often he had attempted to.

Angry about his own meagre powers, Chris kept staring at his hands, while he thought about how extremely superior Wyatt had been to him in the future. Without his trip to the past, a time in which the powers of his enemy were still at least somewhat limited, he and the rest of the resistance would surely have been wiped out soon.

Chris halted in his steps as a frightening thought formed in his mind.

_What if it was already too late?_

No, he still had time, he tried to reassure himself. Even with all the threats the Halliwells had been facing recently, there had been no-one particularly interested in Wyatt. No demon, warlock, or other enemy who might have attempted to turn him to their side.

Yet the concern remained persistent.

_But Jinny’s controlling a genie right now. Who knows what she, or some other demon, who gets their hands on the bottle, might wish for?_

The young man took a shuddering breath and ran a hand across his face as he felt fear spreading inside of him. For all he knew, Jinny might be wishing for something that could cause Wyatt’s change at any moment now and he had no chance of stopping her. What was he supposed to do?

_I have to stop him. Once and for all, before it’s too late._

The thought was like a crushing weight on his conscience, but at the same time Chris felt the certainty grow inside of him that this really was the only way to save the future, his world. He swallowed hard as he looked with a blank gaze at Piper and Paige, who had stopped to see why he had fallen behind.

“I am sorry, but I have to stop him,” the young whitelighter announced, regret colouring his voice, before he left the tunnel in a swirl of light and orbed back to the Halliwell Manor.

 

* * *

 

Chris’ words still seemed to hang in the air as the two sisters looked at each other in confusion. Paige opened her mouth to say something, but Piper beat her to it and uttered the words that had just been on the younger witch’s mind.

“What the hell…?”

Paige’s mouth was left agape for another few seconds until she crunched up her face and shrugged.

“Yeah, no idea,” she admitted, looking back at the spot where her nephew had been standing just a moment ago.

What had Chris been talking about? Why had he left so suddenly? She posed these questions to her sister as well, but Piper was as clueless as her.

The mother of the young man turned from one side to the other as she looked back the way they had come from and into the darkness of the tunnel ahead of them. She wasn’t sure what to do now. On the one hand they didn’t have any time to waste to find Jinny and Phoebe, but on the other hand she was extremely worried about Chris’ strange behaviour.

The seconds ticked by while Piper’s gaze was focused in the direction where she suspected her lost sister. In the end, however, she decided to listen to her instincts. With a deep breath she turned back to Paige.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. I know we could keep looking for Phoebe on our own, but I’m worried about Chris. Something isn’t right here.”

Paige nodded in agreement and immediately grabbed Piper’s hand.

“I’ll orb us back home. If he’s not there we can at least scry for him.”

 

* * *

 

When the two witches appeared in the attic, for one moment everything seemed to be just as they had left it. However, that impression changed the second they turned around.

“What the…?” Paige started as she took in the scene in front of her, only to add a horrified, “Oh my god!” once she had realised the extent of what was going on.

Both Chris and Wyatt were with them in the attic, but the second the two women had materialised, their whitelighter had placed the last of four crystals on the ground, which now formed a blue gleaming force field, separating him and his brother from the two sisters. Wyatt was sitting on the floor, one of his plush toys in his arms, while Chris headed over to him now, an athame clasped tightly in his hand.

He glanced only briefly in the direction of the Charmed Ones, before he dropped to his knees in front of the little boy, his expression sad, but determined.

“I’m sorry, but I have no other choice,” he apologised once again, but without giving any indication that he would cease his actions. “I have to stop Wyatt now, while I still have the chance, or many others will die because of him.”

Chris raised his weapon with both hands, focusing only on the little boy in front of him. Through all of this, Wyatt was looking up at his ‘big’ brother innocently, his own shield not active, as if he wasn’t in any danger at all.

“Athame!” Paige’s panic filled voice rang across the attic as she tried to orb the weapon away from Chris, but without the desired effect. She couldn’t disarm the young man through the magical field protecting him, leaving her utterly powerless.

As she didn’t know what else to do, Paige looked over to her sister, who had been standing next to her for the last couple of moments, silent and rooted to the spot.

“Piper, do something!”

The oldest of the Charmed Ones barely heard the words, though. Her eyes were fixed on her two sons, and yet her mind kept refusing to accept what she was seeing in front of her. This couldn’t possibly be happening. Chris was here to _save_ Wyatt, to protect him, not to hurt him! He could never hurt his own brother. But then realisation suddenly dawned on her, and the scene in front of her finally began to make terrifying sense.

“Chris!” Piper now called out to the young man, her voice soft and pleading as she stepped forward so she was only a few inches away from the glowing force field. “Chris, please, look at me!”

The whitelighter halted in his movements, but didn’t turn to look at the witch. Although at least she was sure that she had his attention.

“Chris, I don’t know why you think you have to do this now, but you _don’t_ , okay? Whatever happened to Wyatt in the future, we can still prevent it. There’s still time, I promise!”

Chris’ resolution seemed to waver for a moment as he let the weapon in his hands sink again. Piper still didn’t dare to breathe, and yet she began to feel some hope again to end this catastrophic situation quickly. She was watching her son’s every movement closely, and noticed with some confusion how he closed his eyes now, as if he were listening to something. However, there was no sound to be heard.

Before she could make sense of his behaviour, though, Chris lifted the athame once again, eliminating any other thought in Piper’s mind.

“I have to go through with this!” he declared through clenched teeth. “I _have_ to!”

“Chris! Chris, no!” Piper shouted, but without much success. She tried her luck against the force field now, but just like Paige’s before, her powers couldn’t get through the barrier. Instead of explosions, there were only a few sparks coming from the magical field whenever the witch tried to destroy it.

Piper’s desperation rose as she had to accept that force wasn’t getting her anyway. She slowly sank to the floor where she stood, tears running down her cheeks.

“Chris, please stop!” she pleaded once again, a lump forming in her throat that was making it hard for her to speak. “You can’t do this. We’re family. You…” she almost trailed off at this point, but then added, almost inaudibly, “you can’t kill your brother.”

Chris had heard her, though, and his head snapped around to stare at the desperate woman.

“What? What did you just say?”

The young man looked at Piper with wide eyes, unwilling to believe that he had heard her correctly. There was no way that she had said Wyatt was his brother. He didn’t _have_ a brother.

… or did he?

Chris tried to concentrate on his childhood, to remember his family, but the memories began to blur, leaving him only with vague flashes of information; nothing that made sense. Almost everything that wasn’t connected to his time here with the Halliwells was becoming hazy and somehow seemed… wrong or at least incomplete.

Chris lowered the athame again and pressed both hands against his temples to calm the chaos that was raging in his head, but to no avail. Until a thought suddenly drowned out everything else and stopped the rush of his memories.

_It’s just a trick. They are using a confusion spell to stop me, but they won’t succeed._

“Right, just a trick.” Whispering, Chris repeated the thought and then turned back to Piper, who had watched his strange behaviour, still visibly horrified.

“I know that you want to stop me, but stay out of my head! And keep your lies to yourself!”

Then he looked back at the young boy in front of him, who clearly still didn’t see a need to defend himself and kept staring up at Chris with trust shining in his eyes. As much as Chris tried, however, he couldn’t ignore Piper’s tear-stricken voice when she spoke again.

“You can’t remember and that’s my fault. I wished for it,” she admitted, becoming increasingly choked up with every word she spoke. “I didn’t mean to, but still. I thought… if you were happier this way… Chris, you’re my son and I love you. …Please!”

Piper’s voice broke completely at these words and she was sobbing openly as she laid her hand against the force field as if it were a sheet of glass, so close that the hair in the back of her neck stood on end from the energy.

Shaken by Piper’s emotional words, Chris stared at her as he lowered the athame once more without thinking about it. Could she be telling the truth after all? Was she his mother and Wyatt, the greatest tyrant of his time, his own brother? Well, at least that would be an explanation why she would think he would be happier without these memories.

Unsure about pretty much everything by now, Chris looked down at the young boy and tried to find any resemblance between them. However, neither as a boy nor as an adult did Wyatt resemble him even in the slightest. Piper on the other hand…

 _No, she’s lying! Don’t fall for it!_ The thoughts were back, this time with an intensity that caused Chris a painful headache.

_Think of all the suffering Wyatt has caused. Can that be your brother? Piper is his mother; she would say anything to protect him._

Chris had his hands at his temples again, while he repeated in a low whisper the words in his mind.

“That’s not true. Wyatt can’t be my brother, but you would say anything to save him.”

Paige, who had been watching the exchange quietly so far, now stepped next to her sister and looked at her nephew urgently.

“Chris, I know you’re afraid of what might happen, if you fail on your mission, but…” The young woman stopped abruptly, when she seemed to be having a sudden epiphany. Conflicting emotions passed over her features, betraying both reassurance and alarm at the same time.

“Afraid,” she whispered quietly, as she went through the last minutes again in her mind. The way Chris kept clutching at his head, how he seemed to be hearing something that only he could hear and how he drew back every time Piper was getting through to him…

Following the example of her sister, Paige laid her hands against the force field now, too, and spoke to her nephew imploringly.

“Chris, listen to me! Is there someone else talking to you, something or someone who’s telling you not to trust us? Who keeps fuelling your fears?”

Confused, the young man looked up at the blonde woman, not sure where she was going with this, when all of a sudden words, as forceful as a stroke of lightning, formed in his mind.

KILL HIM! NOW! BEFORE THEY CAN STOP YOU!

Without really wanting to, Chris realised that he was lifting the athame again, his eyes fixed on Wyatt. As if from afar, he could still hear Paige’s voice, but it became quieter with each moment.

“Chris, I think it’s Barbas! You have to fight against him! He wants you to kill your own brother!”

DON’T LISTEN TO THESE TREACHEROUS WITCHES! YOU DON’T HAVE ANY FAMILY HERE, YOU’VE GOT NOBODY AND WYATT WILL KILL EVERYONE WHO’LL EVER MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU IF YOU DON’T STOP HIM NOW!!

The voice was drowning out his own thoughts at this point, making it impossible for Chris to make sense of any of this. He was acting against his will, but before he could do anything final, it was Piper’s voice that made him halt once again. Even though it reached him even fainter that Paige’s, its impact was much more powerful.

“Chris, listen to me! You can beat Barbas, because I know you’re strong. You’re a fighter! You’ve never let anyone keep you down and I know you won’t let yourself be controlled by your fears now. You— ah!”

The witch broke off abruptly as her hand accidentally touched the force field and the energy discharge hurled her back halfway across the room. In the end it was for the best, though, because her scream finally managed to pull Chris out of his trance-like state. Shocked, he dropped the athame and turned in Piper’s direction.

“Mum! Are you alright?” Before the young man could get an answer, however, there was suddenly a voice behind him, and this time the others could hear it, too.

“Oh, if you don’t do it yourself…”

Chris whirled around, but he didn’t get to see anything except from the black robes of the new arrival, before the man standing behind him had already gripped his throat and pulled him to his feet. He had never encountered Barbas himself, but recognised him immediately, as the demon looked exactly like his picture in the Book of Shadows.

“How many times did I tell you to simply kill him? Was that really too much to ask?” Barbas wondered as he ran the back of his hand through the air in front of Chris’ face. “I’ve seen your fears and I know exactly how much you’re afraid that Wyatt will grow up to become the same man you know once more. And still you didn’t obey me. Why not?”

Chris didn’t get the chance to answer, though, as Paige, who was standing behind the force field, supporting a slightly shaky Piper, interrupted him.

“Because, in contrast to you, he isn’t a murderer!”

Barbas just threw a disdainful glance at the young woman, before turning his attention back to Chris.

“You should keep your nose out of things you don’t know anything about, witch.” Then, more to himself, he murmured, “But maybe he was wrong and the connection between you and your brother was still too strong, even when you couldn’t remember your relation.”

“ _He_?” Chris inquired, one eyebrow arching up with curiosity.

The demon simply shook his head in response.

“My sources are none of your business. And now… say ‘good night’.” With these words he threw Chris with his back against the force field, the full blast of energy knocking him out instantly. Once the young whitelighter had slummed to the floor, unconscious, Barbas moved towards the weapon on the ground to finish the job, but he never got the chance.

Wyatt had so far merely been watching the demon’s actions, certain that he wasn’t a threat to him, but when Chris went down hurt, he finally activated his own force field. The bubble extended around his brother and spread inside the already existing field as far as possible.

The energy charged square, created by four stones in the inner corners, prevented anyone from passing it from both the out- and the inside, so that Barbas, who was pushed back now by Wyatt’s shield, didn’t have any way of escaping and was trapped between the two force fields.

The demon of fear screamed in agony as the combined energy surged through his body, but despite his considerable strength, it didn’t take more than a few seconds until he erupted in flames and perished.

Piper and Paige watched in relief as Barbas crumbled into dust. While he fell apart, the outer force field began to flicker and then collapsed completely. At the same time Wyatt lowered his shield as well, so in the end there was nothing keeping Piper from sinking down between her two sons, checking Chris’ condition, and after she was sure that he was just unconscious, pulling Wyatt into her arms, crying.

Paige kneeled down next to the unmoving whitelighter and let her hands hover over his body. She concentrated and her palms started glowing immediately. After only a few seconds Chris opened his eyes again with a groan.

Still slightly disoriented, the young whitelighter stayed on the ground for a moment, unmoving, as he tried to remember how he had come to be in this position. As his eyes fell on Piper’s tear-stained face and Wyatt in her arms, however, the full impact of what had just happened hit him like a punch to the gut.

He had tried to murder a small child, his own brother. Breathing heavily, he sat up and turned sideways, fearing for a moment that he might actually be getting sick. Nothing happened, though, apart from his stomach and throat constricting painfully.

Chris didn’t dare to turn around and face his mother, so he lowered his head and remained in this position for now. When somebody laid a hand on his back, he flinched and looked up.

Paige was crouching beside him, a tense expression on her face.

“Chris, where is Richard?”

The witch didn’t ask what had happened, but the young man was sure he heard the implied question what exactly he had done to her lover. He swallowed and looked back at the ground before answering.

“He’s in Wyatt’s room.”

Without another word, Paige left the attic and ran down the stairs to look for her boy-friend, whom Chris had knocked out with a vase after his return to the manor.

Only Piper, Wyatt and Chris remained in the room, but the young man still avoided turning around to his mother. Even when he heard her still shaking, but soft voice, he refused to comply with her demand at first.

“Chris, look at me. Please.”

It were only her next words that surprised the young man so much that he finally dropped his hesitation.

“I’m sorry about what happened. I—” The witch broke off as she looked into the disbelieving eyes of her son.

“You’re sorry? _I_ almost killed Wyatt and _you’re_ sorry? I know I’m your son, but... you should hate me for this,” he protested, not understanding Piper’s reaction.

Guilt-ridden, Chris lowered his head as he felt tears rushing to his eyes. He only saw out of the corner of his eyes as Piper sat Wyatt on the ground before she crossed the small distance between herself and her ‘youngest’ and pulled him into her arms. She didn’t loosen her embrace even for a moment as she spoke to Chris in a calming voice.

“It was my fault that you couldn’t remember who you are. If you had even suspected that Wyatt is your brother, Barbas would never have been able to make you hurt him.” She pulled back a little to look into Chris’ eyes and added with a resolute voice, “And you didn’t.”

The young man nodded only half-heartedly, not as convinced of his innocence as Piper obviously was. He only had a few fragments of his memories back, but when he thought of all the suffering Wyatt had caused in his time, he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure to never have considered the idea of killing his brother.

When he now looked at the small boy staring up at him with big eyes, though, he was almost certain to have abandoned that idea a long time before his memory loss. Or at least he hoped so.

After another long moment, Chris took a deep breath to calm himself after everything that had just happened. Then he picked up Wyatt and helped Piper to her feet, before apologising to the little boy.

“I’m sorry about all this. I just hope you won’t keep bringing this up when we grow up together,” he joked, but the smile on his lips was forced and died within seconds. He didn’t really feel like making light of this, after all.

Chris’ mood became even worse when a few moments later, Paige and Richard entered the attic, adding even more guilt to his conscience.

Richard hadn’t suspected anything when Chris had returned to the manor earlier and it had been easy to knock him out with a vase from the hallway while he was distracted. In that moment, the young man hadn’t even cared that he might have killed the sorcerer with that.

Given his actions, Chris was all the more glad to see that Richard was fine again after Paige had obviously healed his injury. He was just about to open his mouth to apologise, when the other man raised his hand to silence him.

“You don’t need to apologise. Paige told me what happened. You weren’t yourself, so just forget about it.”

Chris already wanted to protest, but Richard cut him short once more.

“I mean it. I know how crazy this kind of life can get and I for one am done holding grudges. Especially when there’s absolutely no reason for it.”

“Thanks,” Chris finally replied, although rather reluctantly.

They all were so quick to forgive him for what he had done, or tried to do. However, as he had perceived Barbas’ voice as a part of his own thoughts, he wasn’t even sure where the demon’s influence had started and his own thinking had ended. How far did he have to be pushed to almost become a child murderer and how far did he go on his own?

He would probably never really be able to tell, so for now Chris decided to push his doubts to the back of his mind and focus again on the real problems at hand. When Piper took Wyatt out of his arms, she reminded him and the others that they still had a lot to do.

“Alright, so now that this one catastrophe has been averted, we still need to find Phoebe. We shouldn’t waste any more time before Jinny decides to wish for our deaths after all or she finds this ‘Zanbar’ or whatever she’s been talking about.”

Piper headed towards the attic door to go downstairs, Wyatt on her arm, but stopped when Richard stood in her way and instead of stepping aside, kept staring at her in shock. All colour was drained from his face.

“Did you just say ‘Zanbar’?”

“Yes.” Piper looked over to Paige in confusion, to see if she could make any sense of her boy-friend’s reaction. The other witch seemed to be just as surprised, though. “What about it?”

Richard sighed and ran a hand across his face as if he was searching for the right words to deliver some very bad news. Finally he asked, “What did Jinny tell you about it?”

Piper shrugged before answering.

“That it’s a magical city in the desert and used to be the centre of some evil empire.” She still couldn’t see how this explained Richard’s almost frightened reaction. “But the city’s been deserted and lost for ages. How can it still be a threat?”

“Zanbar isn’t just a city,” Richard pointed out, “it’s an incredibly powerful magical centre, fuelled by a nexus that’s many times as strong as the one under this house. Apparently the Source had been the ruler of the city for centuries, before it was buried by the desert for unknown reasons. They say that as a result, he lost the greater part of his powers, and yet he was still as strong as when you met him a few years ago.”

It slowly began to dawn on the witches what kind of danger they might be facing and now it didn’t even surprise them anymore that Jinny hadn’t bothered to wish for their deaths. With this kind of power she would easily be able to finish them off herself.

“Are you saying that Jinny could become the new Source?” Paige asked hesitantly.

“Worse,” Richard replied, his expression grave. “She could destroy the Cleaners and rule over everything. Not just the underworld, but the entire planet.”

An eerie silence fell over the attic as these terrifying prospects began to sink in. After a few moments, though, Chris’ coldly spoken words ripped through the tension, capturing everyone’s attention.

“Like Wyatt.”

**To be continued…**


	15. Strategic Retreat

Phoebe took a deep breath, before she took another run-up and threw herself against the wall of her prison. The pink bottle swayed heavily, but still remained standing, much to the dismay of its inhabitant.

After Jinny had learned about the discovery of Zanbar, she and her henchmen had immediately rushed to the spot where the skeletons of two of the city’s watchdogs had been found. There, genie-Phoebe had been forced to fulfil her master’s first wish.

It had only taken a nod of her head, and the golden towers of Zanbar had risen from the ground, tons of sand yielding and releasing the ancient city they had buried so long ago. The demons had stood in awe in front of the massive white walls surrounding the city, until their newly declared queen had approached the gate triumphantly.

To her great frustration, Phoebe was cut off from most of what was happening outside of her bottle and so she only knew that she had to be somewhere inside the city at the moment. Jinny had put the bottle down a while ago and since then nobody had even come near it, making it impossible for the genie to know what was happening around her.

Now, however, she was finally about to change that.

With one more determined push, the bottle fell to the side and rolled across the table it was lying on, blue smoke billowing out of the opening. Phoebe crash-landed on the floor with a groan, a tangle of blond hair and the thin, silky veil of her outfit covering her eyes for a moment. She quickly pushed herself up again, afraid that some demon might catch her off guard. Once she got a better look of her surroundings, though, she realised that there had been no risk of that.

Phoebe was completely alone in a small room that seemed to have been used for storage ages ago. Now, however, the shelves on the wall and the caskets and cases on top of them where covered in inches of dust and cobwebs and even the paint on the walls was barely visible anymore.

Everything would have been grey and drab, had it not been for the auspicious bluish light shining in through the crack in the door. The light was moving and painted shimmering patterns on the walls, as if it was being reflected by a water surface.

Although when Phoebe approached the door, there was no water in the room in front of her. But she could make out the source of the light right away; a large column, at least thirteen feet tall, that appeared to consist entirely of liquid energy, emanated from the ground on the other end of the temple-like hall and rose to the ceiling. There, a large stone in the form of a pyramid turned upside down was mounted, serving as the focus point of the energy.

Phoebe was frozen to the spot as she felt the power pulsating from the light and watched the constantly shifting patterns inside the column. She was sure that at this distance even a normal person would have felt the raw potency it embodied.

Only when a dark silhouette stepped in front of the light, was she able to pull her eyes away from it. To her horror, Phoebe had to realise that it was none other than Jinny who now approached the column.

 

* * *

 

“What?” Piper stared at her son in shock, not sure if she really wanted to hear an explanation for his words. “What do you mean with ‘like Wyatt’?” She already knew that Wyatt had become evil in the future, but Chris had never really told her – and she had never asked – what exactly he had done. Judging by the way her youngest had so far talked about his time, though, something horrifying must have happened there; otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the risk of time-travelling in the first place.

“I mean, that after he became ruler of the underworld, Wyatt started terrorising humans, too,” Chris explained. He broke eye contact with Piper before continuing. “And even killing them.”

Although it pained her to hear these things about her son, Piper simply nodded at Chris’ words. After all, he had already told her once about Wyatt being a murderer, although she hadn’t wanted to believe it back then.

“Keeping magic a secret never concerned him, and when the Cleaners wanted to stop him, he destroyed them. All of them at one stroke.”

Completely baffled, everyone present stared at the young man. They had known that Wyatt would become incredibly powerful – already was, actually – but destroying the Cleaners? None of them would have thought him capable of that. Piper couldn’t help herself, but glanced down at the boy in her arms, trying to find any hint of his future power and ruthlessness in his innocent features.

While Piper was still focused on Wyatt, Paige spoke up, voicing a question that had also been on her sister’s mind ever since they had found out the real reason for Chris being in this time. Just that Piper had always been too afraid of the answer to ask.

“And what about us? I mean, why didn’t Piper, Phoebe and I do something to stop Wyatt?”

Piper looked up at Chris now, too, curious about what his reply would be. However, the young man seemed very hesitant to answer. At first, Piper already suspected to hear one of his usual explanations, that he couldn’t give them more information about the future than absolutely necessary to not mess things up, but this time there seemed to be more to it than that.

Chris scrunched up his face for a second and Piper could tell that he wasn’t feeling too well. In the end he shook his head before answering Paige, looking more frustrated than anything.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m sorry, but there’s complete chaos in my head right now. I can remember things that… never happened and a lot of what actually did happen is still pretty blurry.”

Piper’s guilty conscience kept growing as she listened to Chris’ response. Apparently her wish hadn’t just erased his true identity, but had also given him false memories so he wouldn’t realise his loss. He had to be thinking that she had wanted to cast him out, and what had seemed like a good idea earlier, now felt cowardly and cold-hearted. Why hadn’t she listened to her sisters right away and reversed her mistake when she had still had the chance?

The witch sighed deeply, trying to come up with a way to help her son, but before she could think of anything, Paige stepped forward and laid a hand on Chris’ shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“Then don’t try to force it. I’m sure your memories will come back completely in no time.”

Chris nodded, an uncertain smile on his face, but Piper wasn’t willing to accept that as a solution. She shook her head decisively as she walked over to the Book of Shadows, handing Wyatt to Paige in the process.

“No. We’re not going to wait that long. There’s a pretty much unstoppable demon on the loose right now who wants to kill us and I don’t want my son to have an identity crisis during all of this.”

Paige raised an eyebrow and asked in fake surprise, “What, now all of a sudden?”

Piper threw her an icy glare before she turned back to the book without replying to her sister’s question. Instead she continued with the more practical aspects of her decision.

“I’m going to find a spell in the book to give Chris his memories back and who knows, he might even have some information from the future about Zanbar that could be helpful right now.”

At this point Paige turned to her boy-friend, a questioning look on her face.

“Speaking of information; how come you know that much about Zanbar? It isn’t even mentioned in the Book of Shadows.”

Richard made a throw-away gesture before answering.

“Well, for generations my family has been in the possession of some very old books that mention the city. As far as I know it’s been almost two thousand years since it was buried by the desert, so I would have actually been surprised if your ancestors had written anything about it in the Book of Shadows.” He hesitated shortly, but then continued. “I could bring the books here if you want me to, but it would really be best if we stop Jinny before she finds Zanbar in the first place and raises it again.”

The others nodded in agreement, but Piper was the one who said out loud what all of them had been worried about.

“Of course, but what are our chances for that, now that she’s got control of a genie?”

Richard couldn’t argue against that and so he quickly said goodbye, promised he wouldn’t take long and shimmered out, back to his house. Paige wasn’t happy about him using magic, but this was an emergency and so she had nodded approvingly, right before he had vanished.

Piper skimmed through the Book of Shadows, searching for a spell to restore Chris’ memories, while her son was watching her with a slight sense of dread in his stomach.

According to the witch’s earlier explanation, the reason why she had erased his memories in the first place was, because she had thought he would be happier this way. So what horrible events were waiting for him in his own past?

However, although he was sure that it wouldn’t be easy to learn the truth, he just had to know. He had to know who he was, and what experiences had brought him here, even if that meant facing the fact that the evil he was fighting was his own brother.

After a while Piper seemed to have found what she was looking for, because she asked Paige to step next to her and then looked at Chris with a concerned expression.

“Are you ready?”

The young man simply shrugged and answered with a lopsided grin.

“No, but I guess I’ll never be, so let’s just get this over with.”

Piper nodded, but as she and Paige were just about to recite the spell to restore Chris’s memories, the pages of the Book of Shadows were suddenly turned over by a magical blast of air. For a moment only the sound of the flipping parchment filled the room, until the book finally came to a halt. The two witches in front of it looked in surprise at the open page, until the youngest of the Charmed Ones summarised its content, her voice sceptical.

“It’s a spell to link minds. How is that supposed to help us?” She looked at Chris, obviously confused, but the young man, who was standing on the other side of the book, didn’t know anything more about this than his aunt did.

Finally Piper spoke up, apparently deep in thought.

“Isn’t this the spell you and Phoebe once used to get into my mind when I was being manipulated by that demon, Paige?”

Her sister nodded, but there was a moment of silence before Piper continued. She could think of only one reason why this particular spell had been turned open, but she wasn’t sure if she was right about this. The only thing she did know for sure was that Chris would not like her conclusion.

“I guess that we’re supposed to use this spell to travel into your memories when you get them back, Chris. That way we’ll learn as well what you forgot about your past.”

The young whitelighter stared at his mother for a few seconds, completely baffled, until he finally replied.

“What? No, are you crazy? That’s out of the question!” He raised his hands to emphasise his words and continued, appalled by Piper’s suggestion. “I’m sure it was for a very good reason that I told you so little about the future; it could have all sorts of dangerous consequences, if you find out what’s going to happen.” With a resolute expression he added, “I’m not going to let you use this spell. Just restore my memories and then we can focus again on the more important issues, like uh, I don’t know, an insanely powerful demon trying to kill us all.”

Paige looked at her nephew sympathetically, while she thought about their situation. She could understand all too well that he didn’t want them to pry into his memories, but she had also learned to trust the Book of Shadows. If it gave them such a clear hint about what to do next, she was sure that it was best to follow this lead. So far that had never been a mistake.

“Chris, I understand why you don’t want this, but if the book—”

The witch interrupted herself mid-sentence, when the ground beneath her feet suddenly started shaking without warning. Glasses and vials with all sorts of ingredients fell from the shelves at the wall, and even the Book of Shadows would have tumbled to the floor, had Piper not caught it in time.

The four Halliwells got pretty jarred for a few seconds, and Wyatt started crying in Paige’s arms, but before they could even think about orbing away, everything settled down again. Piper put the book back on its pedestal and then took her son from his aunt’s arms, trying to calm him. Her expression was worried as she looked around and took in the damage around them.

“Was this really just an earthquake?” she asked, more to herself than the others.

Paige glanced around the room for a moment, too, as if waiting for another tremor, until she finally shrugged.

“I… guess. This is San Francisco, after all.”

The witch was just about to say something else, when a strange sound from the door caught her attention. Chris and Piper had apparently heard it, too, because they both turned around as well now, only to freeze at what they saw.

The attic door was closed and lay half in the shadows, but in its centre they could clearly make out a small glowing circle. The glowing became increasingly more intense and after a moment, small lines spread from the circle like cracks in a mirror. It was a strangely fascinating view that captured everyone for a few seconds, so they realised the danger they were in too late.

Just as Chris wanted to back away, the door shattered in a deafening explosion and the blast knocked all the Halliwells against the opposite wall. Wyatt hadn’t raised his shield in time to protect them against the force of the explosion, but he at least cushioned their impact a little and kept them from being pierced by the shreds of wood that shot across the attic.

As soon as Chris had recovered from the crash, he checked on his family right away.

Wyatt was still in Piper’s arms. His force field was up, protecting all of them and he was looking with big eyes into the direction where the door used to be. Piper and Paige seemed to be alright, too, having landed a few feet away from Chris, and were now both getting up again.

At last, the young whitelighter followed his brother’s line of sight and looked over to the source of the explosion, but a cloud of smoke was blocking his view. Only when he and the others were standing again, a silhouette started to become visible against the open door frame, heading towards them.

Chris froze as he could feel the power emanating from the newcomer before he could even make out who it was. It was an energy that dwarfed everything else he had ever felt; not even Wyatt at the height of his power would have been able to match it. The sisters appeared to be feeling it, too, because they were obviously not planning on staying any longer to make the acquaintance of their mysterious visitor.

“Book!” Paige orbed the Book of Shadows into her arms and then reached out for Piper’s shoulder to get both of them and Wyatt to safety. In Chris’ direction she whispered “To Magic School” and was just about to get out of the manor when an all too familiar voice sounded across the attic and echoed in her ears.

“You want to leave already?” It was without any doubt Jinny, who had spoken these words, as was confirmed when she finally stepped out of the smoke, but this woman didn’t seem to have a lot left in common with the demon they had met earlier. Let alone with the pink-clad genie that Phoebe had released.

Her voice, her posture, her entire aura, all that was emanating an authority that the ordinary demon she had been before had thoroughly lacked. Her eyes were completely black now, like those of the source had been, and she was dressed in elegant dark robes that were decorated with beautiful silver ornaments. An equally black cloak fell over her slim shoulders and completed the noble impression the new ruler of Zanbar was portraying.

Both Paige and Chris tried to orb, but soon had to realise that they wouldn’t be able to, as long as Jinny wanted to prevent them from leaving. The three adult Halliwells shared worried glances until Piper took a step forward to confront their uninvited guest.

“We’ve already been wondering if you’ve found Zanbar by now or not. I guess this answers the question.”

Jinny smiled at the boldness of the witch standing opposite from her. They both knew that one move of her hand would be enough to eradicate everything in her path, and still Piper showed no sign of fear. In a way, the demon was impressed by this, but surely not enough to spare the life of even one of those present.

“Indeed. And as you can see, I didn’t just find the city, I also absorbed its power. So whatever you might want to try, you don’t stand a chance against me. You will all perish.” Jinny was relishing her moment of triumph visibly and let her eyes wander across all the Halliwells until she stopped at Wyatt. Her eyes were glistening dangerously as she slowly stepped closer to the little boy in Piper’s arms.

“So, you’re the famous son of a Charmed One. The twice-blessed child.”

Wyatt’s force field collapsed as the demon touched it and she kept moving without being halted in her steps in the slightest. Before Piper could even try to protect her son from Jinny, though, it was, to everyone’s surprise, Chris who stepped in front of his mother and brother and faced the demon head-on.

“Don’t you dare touch him,” he pressed out, although he knew well enough that he would hardly be able to do anything to stop Jinny. And yet he would not yield. After all, he was here in this time to protect his family and especially his brother and that was exactly what he was going to do now.

The demon paused in surprise as the young man planted himself in front of her. She regarded him with a mixture of scepticism and arrogance.

“You know that you can’t stop me, right? Do you really want to be the first to die this badly?” She studied the whitelighter intently as a knowing smile spread on her lips. “You’re half witch, aren’t you? I can see that now.” Jinny pointed at her dark eyes to emphasise her words, before continuing in a cold voice. “There’s a lot of potential in you. Too bad you’ll never be able to achieve it.”

Behind him, Chris could hear the pleading voice of his mother, begging him to step aside, but that was certainly not what he planned to do. He would make his stand right here and take whatever the demon had in store for him. Maybe his sacrifice would at least enable the sisters and Wyatt to escape.

“I’m not moving out of your way, so why don’t you just cut the small talk, alright? You know, you’re not the first megalomaniac I’ve had to face in my life.”

“Oh, but it’s not megalomania, if I can deliver, right?” Jinny asked back, a sadistic grin spreading on her lips.

The next thing Chris knew, the demon started to recite words in a strange language he couldn’t identify, while her black gleaming eyes were focused solely on him. At first he was confused about what she was doing, but then a sudden pain erupted in his chest that made him forget everything else. It was as if something was crushing his insides, leaving him breathless with agony.

Jinny’s voice still wasn’t louder than a small whisper, but for Chris it drowned out every other sound around him as her words rang through his mind, literally forcing him to his knees. He tried to fight against it, but found that the demon’s earlier boast had been exasperatingly true. He couldn’t do anything to stop her.

The look on Piper’s face betrayed her terror as she had to watch her son’s suffering. She repeatedly tried to blow Jinny up, but the demon didn’t even seem to be aware of the attack.

Next to Piper, Paige was watching the situation as well, but she was noticing something her distraught sister wasn’t. She could feel how the magical hold that was preventing her from orbing was becoming weaker, the more Jinny concentrated on Chris. In a few moments she would be able to get out of here with her sister and Wyatt, but of course Paige knew that they couldn’t leave Chris behind. Not under any circumstances.

The young woman’s eyes darted across the attic in a desperate attempt to come up with a solution, but she couldn’t think of any way to distract Jinny even for a small moment, allowing them all to escape together. She glanced at the Book of Shadows in her arms, but not even there could she find any hope in this situation.

So in the end the witch made the only choice she could think of.

Paige raised her arm towards Piper, who was still trying to make Jinny either explode or freeze over and over again, and uttered quietly, but clearly, “Magic School”. For a split second Piper stared back at her with a horrified expression, before she and Wyatt vanished in a swirl of blue light.

As Jinny realised what was going on, she immediately fell silent and turned her attention away from Chris for the moment. The young man was still on his knees, panting heavily from the pain, but after a few seconds he managed to pull himself together enough to get back to his feet.

He looked from the demon, who was standing in front of him, her face contorted with anger, to Paige and noticed that Piper and Wyatt were gone. For a second he wondered how they had been able to get away, but got his answer immediately.

“How were you able to orb them out of here? I prevented you from doing that,” Jinny hissed at Paige. Sparks of energy were flaring from her right hand as she was getting more furious by the second.

Paige, however, didn’t let herself be intimidated by her opponent, no matter how strong she was. She just shrugged and answered in an innocent tone of voice.

“Well, maybe you’re just not as powerful as you thought you were. If I were you, I’d probably stop boasting so much.”

Jinny was practically foaming with rage now and both Paige and Chris felt as the control the demon had regained over them after stopping her attack on Chris began to fade again. The two half-whitelighters exchanges a knowing glance as they recognised their chance to escape. Now they only had to make Jinny even angrier, but without being killed in the process.

The demon seemed to be about to foil their plan, though, as she suddenly advanced on Paige, the energy sparks flying around her hand increasing. The young witch took a sharp breath as she backed away, the Book of Shadows still in her hands. She was afraid she might have overstepped the mark with her last comment.

Before Jinny could get too close to her, though, Richard suddenly returned to the attic, reappearing only a few steps away from the others. He was carrying a pile of books in his hands and stared in utter bewilderment at Paige and the demon as he became aware of the situation. Jinny raised an eyebrow as she noticed the new arrival.

“So you’re still alive,” she pointed out in mild surprise. She kept looking at Richard for a second, but then turned back to Paige, although her words were clearly still directed at the sorcerer.

“Well, then you’re just in time to watch your girl-friend die.” With that, Jinny raised her arm, crossed the remaining distance between herself and the witch and was about to slam her energy filled hand against Paige’s chest, when the young woman ripped the Book of Shadows up in front of her in a reflex.

The demon’s palm hit the book, causing an explosion that knocked both women backwards. As Paige was standing right in front of the wall, she managed to remain upright, the book still in her hand. Jinny on the other hand crashed to the ground on the other side of the attic.

The demon was back on her feet within a few seconds, but the others did not plan on staying any longer. Paige grabbed Richard’s hand, made sure that Chris was ready to leave, too, and after he had nodded in reply, all three of them dissolved into bright light and vanished before Jinny was able to stop them.

For a few moments, the demon stood in the middle of the attic without moving, forced to realise that the witches had gotten away from her despite her new powers. Then she lifted her arms, threw her head back and screamed out her anger, until the very foundations of the building began to shake. At first, only a few windows burst, but then cracks started to form in the walls and ceilings. It didn’t take long until the entire Halliwell Manor was collapsing in on itself, and after not even a minute, a pile of debris was all that remained of the Victorian estate.

A few neighbours, who had looked out of their windows or had come outside, thought they had seen a woman hovering in mid-air above the destroyed house for a short while, but as that was completely impossible, hardly anyone mentioned it to the police as they investigated what they assumed must have been a gas explosion.

**To be continued…**


	16. The Book of Shadows

There were always several students inside the library of Magic School at any given time during the day, doing research for class or simply reading. Today, however, they all steered clear of it, as the headmaster himself was pacing up and down the large room, venting his bad mood at anyone who was foolish enough to cross his path. Gideon was waiting for a message from Barbas or a sign of the Charmed Ones to find out if his plan had been successful. He needed to know what exactly had transpired in the Halliwell Manor.

Was Wyatt already dead? Had Chris murdered his own brother, maybe even meeting his own end in the process? Or had the demon of fear failed and possibly even told the sisters about the person from whom he had received his orders?

All these questions were slowly driving the Elder to desperation, but he couldn’t do anything else other than wait here for news for the time being.

It seemed like another eternity had passed until a swirl of blue lights floated into the room and manifested into Piper Halliwell. She had her back turned to Gideon and didn’t notice his presence right away, but he couldn’t wait to find out why she had come here. He was doing his best to appear genuinely concerned as he called the witch.

“Piper, is everything alright? Is there anything I can do for you?” The headmaster of Magic School had to muster up all of his self-control, not to show his shock when the oldest of the Charmed Ones turned around to him and he became aware of Wyatt in her arms. His plan had obviously failed, but that didn’t explain why Piper had now appeared here without her sisters.

 

* * *

 

Piper Halliwell had felt like paralysed when her sister had suddenly decided to orb her and Wyatt to Magic School and to safety without her agreement. After all, she had just been forced to witness Chris sacrificing himself for his brother and the image remained stuck in her mind as she now found herself in the familiar school library.

She knew she had tried everything to help him, and that Jinny had simply been too strong for her powers to have any effect, but still, Piper was sure that she could have done more to help, if her sister hadn’t taken her out of the fight against her will.

The witch was startled out of her stupor when she heard a concerned voice behind her, causing her to turn around. Gideon was standing there, looking at her and Wyatt with an expression Piper found herself unable to read. She didn’t really pay much attention to it, though, as there was only one concern on her mind right now.

“You have to send me back!”

Gideon’s eyebrows rose at the anxious demand, made without any explanation or even a specific location where he was supposed to send the witch back to. He was clearly taken aback by her behaviour, but before he had a chance to ask for clarification, Piper shoved Wyatt into the Elder’s arms and took a step back. She was gesticulating wildly with her hands, a pleading look in her eyes.

“Please, or else my son is going to die!” Piper ran her hands across her face as she tried to suppress the tears that were threatening to emerge. Usually no enemy, no matter how powerful, could cause her to panic, but right now she just didn’t know what was left for her to do. Chris might even be dead already.

“Orb me back home into the attic. I have to try and stop Jinny or she’s going to kill Chris!”

Gideon took a deep breath and raised his hands in a placating manner as he approached the woman in front of him slowly.

“Piper, please calm down. Tell me what happened in the manor and how you got here, then I’m surely going to be able to help you. But I need to know what happened first.” With a short glance at the child on his arm, he added, “Did Wyatt orb you both here?”

Piper rolled her eyes impatiently before answering the Elder.

“No, that was Paige. She seems to have forgotten which one of us is the oldest and apparently thought she had to protect me.” The witch took a deep breath to calm herself and then continued decisively. “But I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much, and as Wyatt is now safe here with you, there’s no reason not to send me back _right now_. Maybe it’s not too late,” she finished in a hopeful tone.

Gideon hesitated for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Piper, I can only assume that this Jinny is a very powerful enemy or Paige would never have thought it necessary to orb you and Wyatt out of the house. In that case, it might be best to trust her judgement and let her and Chris handle the situation on their own. It will certainly be easier for the two of them to escape if they don’t have to look out for you as well. Your unexpected return might only be making matters worse. I know, you—”

But Piper was too riled up to let the Elder finish.

“You don’t know anything!” she shouted, letting all her frustration and anger out on the man in front of her. “This is my family we’re talking about here. I have to help them, I—” But the witch stopped abruptly as she suddenly heard the familiar sound of orbing right behind her.

Her breath caught in her throat and for a split second she didn’t dare to turn around, afraid that only Paige would be standing there. But then she did it anyway and had to press her hand against her mouth to stifle the sob that was threatening to escape her as she found her son standing a few feet away from Paige and Richard.

He was obviously still shaken from Jinny’s attack and had an arm wrapped around his body in a protective manner. Piper hoped that he was doing alright, though, considering the facts that he was standing steadily and had made it here on his own. She hurried over to Chris and hugged him, relieved, but backed off again immediately as she noticed him flinch under her touch.

“Sorry, I should have been more careful. Are you alright?” The witch had taken a step back and looked her son up and down, concern darkening her features. As far as she could tell, Jinny’s spell hadn’t left any visible marks on him, but going by the amount of pain he had been in only moments ago, she knew that he couldn’t be fine, either.

“It’s still hurting a bit, but I’m okay,” Chris replied, prompting Piper’s brow to furrow in disbelief. He shifted under her scrutinising gaze, only to grimace in pain at the small movement. Nevertheless, the young man continued to insist that he was alright. “Seriously, you don’t need to worry. It’s nothing.”

Piper on the other hand didn’t let herself be fooled that easily.

“Nonsense! I want Paige to take a look at this, after all, Jinny almost killed you back in the manor.” She hesitated for a moment, then turned to her sister with a questioning look on her face. “Speaking of which; how did you even manage to get out of there?”

“Well, ehm…” The younger witch grinned sheepishly before lifting up the Book of Shadows that she was still carrying, so that Piper could get a better look at it. “Let’s just say, not without casualties.”

“Oh, god.” The oldest of the Charmed Ones froze as she realised the state their most precious possession was in.

The front cover and the first pages were almost completely destroyed and the rest of the book was showing such severe burn marks that it almost seemed like a miracle that it hadn’t fallen apart yet. Only the triquetra on the cover was still undamaged and Piper even had the impression that its colour was more intense than ever.

 

* * *

 

“If this demon is indeed in the possession of Zanbar’s power now, we have a very serious problem.” Gideon had started pacing in the library again, but this time he was thinking about what he had just learned from the Halliwells and Paige’s boyfriend.

At first, the two half-whitelighters had told him and Piper how they had managed to escape the demon. It was good to know that their enemy was not yet in full control of her enormous new powers, but in another encounter they would not be able to rely on that. Jinny was also still in possession of Phoebe’s bottle, so that, on top of her controlling a genie, the Power of Three was incomplete at the moment.

“But the book stopped her,” Paige pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean that Jinny isn’t really as powerful as we had feared she would be?” she asked, causing the headmaster of Magic School to actually roll his eyes and become uncharacteristically exasperated as he answered her.

“Tell me, have you been able to harm her in any way?” he wondered, looking from Paige to the others. “No?” he asked again, but everyone was too surprised by his reaction to reply anything, and so the Elder continued. “The Book of Shadows does not only contain the Power of Three, but it’s under the protection of generations of Halliwells. And _this_ is what it looks like after Jinny touched it for merely a split second.” He pointed at the charred remains of what had not long ago been the best protected family heirloom of the sisters. “No, I think the assessment that she will be pretty much unstoppable was indeed the correct one.”

Richard, who had never met the Elder so far, looked over at Paige, Piper and Chris at Gideon’s harsh reaction, only to find the three exchanging surprised glances. They were clearly not used to seeing the normally so level-headed headmaster this agitated, but then again, this was hardly an ordinary day for the Elder. While Gideon could handle bad news rather well in general, it simply didn’t happen often that he received so much of it at once.

Among everything else that had been going on, the sisters and Chris had told him about their encounter with Barbas and his attempt to have the young man kill Wyatt. Of course, the Elder had faked the appropriate amount of relief when he had learnt about how the boy had been able to vanquish the demon in the end. In truth, however, he had just lost a valuable ally in his effort to eliminate the threat Piper’s sons were posing once and for all. The only good thing that had come out of this was that Barbas had obviously not been able to reveal who had sent him prior to his death. Otherwise Gideon knew he would not be standing here anymore.

They had also informed him about all the other important occurrences since his last visit to the manor. Discovering Chris’ true identity, Phoebe turning into a genie, Piper’s unfortunate wish, Paige’s new ability and finally the almost fatal attack of the most recent aspirant to the throne of the underworld.

The demon Jinny had actually succeeded in raising the lost city of Zanbar from the depths of the desert, but even though Paige’s boyfriend seemed to have informed the witches about the enormity of this event, they obviously hadn’t grasped the gravity of their situation yet.

The Elder took a deep breath as he decided with a heavy heart to put his plans for Wyatt to rest for the moment. It was the most important thing to stop this demon now, otherwise any goodness in this world wouldn’t even have a future Piper’s sons could endanger. He knew, however, that they would not be able to solve this problem on their own.

“By recovering Zanbar, Jinny might have reopened one of the darkest chapters in the history of magic. It is therefore absolutely vital that the Council of Elders is informed about this incident as soon as possible,” Gideon explained while regarding the group in front of him.

They were sitting at a table in the library; Piper with Wyatt in her lap beside Chris, Paige and Richard on the other side and between them the remains of the Book of Shadows. All of them, even the little boy, were visibly exhausted after the strain of the past hours, but they were also aware that the danger was far from over.

“I would also like one of you to come with me, as you have already witnessed Jinny’s powers in person.”

Gideon looked at the sisters expectantly as they exchanged a quick glance to decide which one of them should accompany the Elder.

“I know you want to see Leo, so you go, Piper,” Paige declared after a moment, offering a smile to her sister. “And who knows, maybe those guys ‘up there’ might actually come up with something to help us for a change.” With an apologetic look to the present Elder, she added, “No offence, Gideon.”

The man in question nodded impatiently in reply and then quickly turned to Piper.

“None taken, Paige. Are you ready to go, Piper? We have no time to waste.”

“Yes, alright,” the witch agreed, but before she got up from her seat, she turned around to Chris to hand Wyatt over to him, only to notice that the young man was avoiding her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Chris?”

It took him a few seconds to answer the question, all the while still making sure not to look directly at Piper.

“Are you going to tell him?” At Piper’s confused expression, he added, “Leo, I mean, about me.”

Piper hesitated. When she had found out that Chris was her son, she hadn’t expected to see Leo again anytime soon. Although she thought that he had a right to know, she hadn’t wanted to endanger him by calling him down to her. Not with the threat of the darklighters’ poison looming over them. Now, however, she would be standing in front of him again within minutes and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep the truth from him even if she wanted to. Not after what had transpired between them yesterday.

“Would you rather not want me to?”

Chris raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised that his mother would even ask something that obvious.

“Of course not! I can’t even remember him as my father at the moment. Just give me some time to get used to this whole… family-thing. I really can’t deal with Leo right now,” Chris confessed, triggering Piper’s guilty conscience once more. After all, she was the one to blame for his memory issues.

“Alright,” she agreed reluctantly and nodded. She knew that she owed Chris this much, even though she didn’t like to have secrets from Leo.

After this exchange, Piper finally stood up and moved to Gideon’s side.

“I’ll be back soon,” she promised, before she and the Elder dissolved into a swirl of white-blue lights and orbed away.

 

* * *

 

Paige walked slowly along the corridors of Magic School, from the kindergarten where she had just dropped off Wyatt back to the library where Richard and Chris were trying to find further information on Zanbar with Sigmund’s help. Or at least she had thought that her nephew was there, too, but was now proven wrong as he suddenly stepped out of an adjacent corridor.

The young whitelighter appeared to be somewhat glum, but also determined as he stopped a few feet in front of his aunt and addressed her.

“Paige, I wanted to ask you for a favour.” The issue seemed to be very important to him and he waited until the witch nodded in agreement.

“Of course, go ahead.”

Chris hesitated shortly and looked down the corridor as if to make sure that nobody was listening in on them.

“I want you to cast the spell to restore my memories before mum comes back. I have no idea what I’m gonna find out, so I’d rather not have her there.” A crooked grin appeared on his lips as he continued. “I could probably do it on my own, but after what happened the last time…”

Paige raised an eyebrow and nodded once more as she remembered how they had just restored Chris’ eyesight this morning. She almost couldn’t believe that so much had happened since then.

“Alright, I’ll help you.”

 

* * *

 

Paige was standing in front of the Book of Shadows and flipped through the pages carefully, constantly trying to avoid causing any further damage. She and Chris had retreated into an empty classroom to cast the memory spell here. The young man was pacing in front of the desk where the book was lying, repeatedly glancing at his aunt, clearly on edge.

“Chris, calm down. Walking a pit into the floor isn’t going to speed anything up; you’re just driving me crazy with it.” Completely absorbed by the book again, she added to herself, “You’ve clearly picked that one up from your father,” causing Chris to stop his movement immediately and stare at the witch in surprise.

“What?”

Paige looked up and moved her finger through the air, following the path Chris had been walking for the past minutes.

“Well, this pacing up and down. Leo does that, too, when he’s nervous and he’s always driving Piper insane with it.”

Although he didn’t even know why, Chris had to smile at the thought of having inherited this and probably other traits from his father. He had already regained several memories of Piper and the sisters, but he still couldn’t remember Leo from the future at all and he was glad about anything that connected him to the Elder.

By now the young man couldn’t wait to finally remember everything from his past again. Surely not all aspects of his life had been positive, or he wouldn’t have come here in the first place to safe the future, but the thought of having a real family had erased all of his doubts. Therefore he was more than relieved when Paige finally found the right spell.

“Alright, this is it,” the blonde witch announced cheerfully. She looked into her nephew’s eyes once more, ready to start, but just like during their last try on the attic, the pages of the book were suddenly turned by an invisible force until the spell to link minds appeared.

Chris rolled his eyes while Paige grinned at him awkwardly.

“No, you can forget about that,” the young man declared, before his aunt even had a chance to say anything. “Turn it back to the spell we need and let’s not waste our time with this crap!”

“But the book seems to… well… insist on it,” Paige pointed out. She could understand Chris’ aversion to this all too well, but when they were getting such a clear hint…

“Then just hold on to the page. It’s still just a book!” This statement earned Chris a shocked look from his aunt and a playful smack on the arm.

“Chris! You know as well as I do that this is more than just a book. It _does_ possess certain magical powers and if it says that we should use this spell now, I’d say it’s best if we just trust in that.” The witch glared at her nephew, as if she could change his mind just by looking at him.

Chris had turned away from her and ran a hand over his eyes as he thought about his options. There was no way he wanted to allow Paige to get into his mind, but he silently had to agree with her. The Book of Shadows had been in their family for generations, serving as a source of knowledge and as an advisor, and even though he couldn’t really remember most of his own experiences with it, he had the strong feeling that he could trust it unconditionally. He sighed deeply as he had finally made his decision.

“Okay, fine.” He shrugged in defeat and motioned for Paige to continue.

“Maybe you should better sit down, you might lose consciousness,” the witch advised. Chris nodded and pulled a chair in front of the desk, letting himself fall onto it.

Paige browsed through the book again, searching for the memory spell once more while holding the mind link spell open with her other hand.

“Okay, I’m going to cast both spells right after each other. Are you ready?”

Chris nodded impatiently, waiting for his aunt to hurry up.

“Just do it, before I change my mind.” He took a deep breath and tried to get into a comfortable position on the chair as Paige already started the memory spell.

“Okay.

Let the truth be told,  
let Chris’ life unfold.  
So that he can relive his memories,  
and face all his enemies.”

The witch could see how Chris’ forehead started to glow for a moment until the young man slumped further into his chair, unconscious. Now she felt very relieved that she had reminded him to sit down.

Then she straightened herself and opened the second page, immediately reading the mind link spell out loud that would hopefully send her into Chris’ memories as well.

“Life to Life and Mind to Mind  
Our spirits now will intertwine  
We meld our souls  
And journey to  
The one whose thoughts  
I wish I knew.”

Paige’s entire body began to glow and after a few seconds the young woman dissolved into a swirl of energy that made its way right into Chris’ head.

**To be continued…**


	17. The Things That Shape Us (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spells I used in the previous chapter were taken from the forth and fifth season of Charmed, though slightly changed to fit in the context of this fanfiction. Their effects might also vary a little.

When Paige manifested again, it only took her a fleeting glance to recognise Phoebe’s room in the Halliwell Manor. The furniture was different, though, and even in the subdued light she could see that the figure lying in the bed definitely wasn’t her sister.

A dark haired boy of maybe eight or nine years was sleeping under several blankets, moving around repeatedly, and Paige could tell even in the semi-darkness they were in that he wasn’t feeling too well. She was just about to go over to him, when a voice behind her made her halt.

“Don’t worry, it’s just the flu. I’m gonna be better in a few days.”

Paige hadn’t noticed Chris so far, as he was standing in one of the dark corners of the room, but now turned around to him, completely startled. 

“Chris!” She needed a moment to recover from being caught off guard like that, but then she pointed at the boy in the bed behind her to confirm the obvious. “So that is you?”

Her nephew simply nodded in reply.

“But why are we here? I mean, it doesn’t look as if we’re going to relive all of your memories, right? So I guess something important is going to happen here, isn’t it?” Paige looked at Chris questioningly, but the young man kept avoiding her eyes.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it important…” He might have wanted to say something else, but was interrupted as the door opened quietly and Piper entered the room.

She was several years older, but still the same caring mother as which Paige had already come to know her with Wyatt. She was carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of soup, a glass of water, juice and a wet cloth on it. After putting down the tray on the nightstand, she switched on the bedside lamp and sat down next to her son, before she started to wipe his forehead with the piece of cloth. There was a soft expression in her eyes as she looked down at the boy, joined by a small smile playing on her lips as he woke up.

“Mum… what time is it?” The young Chris glanced up at his mother, stifling a yawn as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Piper ran a gentle hand through her son’s hair as he sat up slowly, then placed a kiss on the top of his head before answering his question.

“It’s almost three. Why do you ask?”

The boy stared at her in shock before he, to Piper’s big surprise, suddenly tried to climb past her out of his bed. The witch managed to hold her son back, though, giving him a stern look.

“Hey, whoa, would you please tell me where exactly you want to go all of a sudden?”

Chris tried to shake her off, but in the end he seemed to realise that it would be faster to simply answer his mother’s question.

“Dad promised to go to the zoo today with Wyatt and me.”

Piper obviously wanted to reply something, but didn’t get the chance as Chris added hastily,

“I’m feeling all better already. Really! Can I go? Please?”

Paige could see how her sister averted her eyes to the ground for a second, before she reached for something on the tray she had brought. It was a white envelope that the witch held in her hands for a few moments, her eyes fixed on the paper.

“Your dad was here earlier while you were still asleep, Chris. I know you were looking forward to seeing him, but Wyatt was really eager to go, and…”

Paige realised how hard Piper was fighting to keep her composure and not get too emotional in front of Chris. She could see how devastated the young boy was by the news that he had been left behind, but when she turned around to the adult whitelighter behind her, she couldn’t find even the faintest trace of emotion in his face. His expression was completely cold as he looked at the situation in front of them.

However, as Piper continued talking now, Paige turned her back on Chris again for now to face her sister once more.

“Leo left this for you,” the dark haired woman explained as she handed the envelope to her son. He took it hesitantly and kept his eyes focused on it as Piper finally stood up, reminded him of the soup she had brought, and quietly left the room.

As his mother before, Chris held the letter in his hands for a few moments, while apparently contemplating if he should even open it at all. In the end he did, though, and pulled out the contained sheet of paper.

The boy read the lines written on it carefully and only after what felt like an eternity, he put the still unfolded paper back on the night stand. For a split second Paige could see that he had tears in his eyes, but then he quickly laid down again and pulled the blanket up over his head.

The witch hesitated shortly and threw a questioning glance across her shoulder at her adult nephew, but he still showed no reaction. So she went over to the bed and wanted to take the letter from the night stand, but her hand went right through the paper. Obviously she wasn’t able to touch anything here, as all of this was merely a memory. As the bedside lamp was still on, though, and the letter hadn’t been folded again, Paige didn’t have any trouble deciphering Leo’s handwriting.

 

 _I am sorry that you couldn’t come with us,_  
but Wyatt had been looking forward to going to the zoo so much   
that I didn’t want to disappoint him. I’m sure you can understand.  
I’ll see you next time.  
Dad

 

Speechless, Paige stared down at the paper in front of her as several quite unfriendly expressions crossed her mind that she would have liked to say to Leo right now. How could he spend the day with Wyatt while Chris was in bed, sick, and then leave his youngest with nothing but this pathetic excuse for a letter. She hoped that Piper had at least kicked his ass for that.

The witch was still rooted to the spot, when her adult nephew, who was still standing behind her, spoke up once more. His voice was just as emotionless as his face had been over the last few minutes.

“That was only the first of many letters that Leo left for me over the years, explaining why he didn’t have time or couldn’t take me along. It was just strange that Wyatt never got one. For him Leo was always there in person, no matter what.”

Paige turned around to face Chris, fiery anger burning in her eyes in light of her brother-in-law’s actions. Her expression softened again, however, as her compassion for her nephew grew and she tried to find the right words to cheer him up.

“Well, at least I’m not surprised anymore that you banished him to Valhalla,” she finally admitted, a lopsided grin on her lips as she tilted her head slightly at Chris.

The young whitelighter looked back at his aunt in surprise.

“You knew?”

Paige shrugged.

“Let’s say, I suspected it.”

Chris obviously wanted to reply something more, but was cut off when there was suddenly a bright flash of light that made both him and Paige close their eyes in pain.

The brightness only lasted for a couple of seconds, but when they could make out their surroundings again, they weren’t in Chris’ room anymore. Instead they were outside, only a small distance away from the entrance of the manor and both of their counterparts, who were standing right in front of it.

The Chris from this memory was older, a teenager now, and his aunt had become noticeably more mature, as well. She withstood the critical gaze of her younger self, though.

“How old are you here, Chris, fifteen?” she asked, stemming her hands against her hips in contemplation. “I don’t think I look over fifteen years older. Maybe eight. Or nine.”

“Fourteen.”

“What?” Paige turned to her nephew incredulously, but he lifted his hands in an apologetic gesture.

“I meant myself. I’m fourteen, not fifteen.” Chris swallowed heavily and averted his eyes from Paige before continuing. “In fact, today’s my—”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence as the Paige from his memory suddenly interrupted him. She had turned to face her nephew, who reached almost up to her height, despite his young age.

“Please promise me to act surprised. Your mother is going to kill me if she finds out that I ruined her surprise party.”

The boy laughed, but then put a hand over his heart in a solemn gesture and looked at his aunt with an earnest expression.

“I promise that I won’t say a word. Mum always makes such an effort for our birthday parties, I don’t want to ruin it for her. But are you sure that we aren’t too early?” he asked with a glance at his watch.

Paige checked the time as well, but then shook her head.

“No, I think she should be done here as well as in the P3 by now, so we can go in.”

“The P3?” Chris asked in return, his eyebrows rising. “So are we going to celebrate there tonight?”

Paige stared at her nephew with wide eyes, then slapped herself against the forehead.

“I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut. I’m becoming almost as bad as Phoebe now.” Fixating Chris with a conspiratorial look, she continued. “You don’t know anything about that, either, got it? And now let’s go inside before I tell you about all of your presents, too.”

She and Chris finally headed into the house, but when the younger Paige wanted to follow them, she had to realise that ‘her’ nephew was frozen to the spot. She was about to make a light-hearted quip concerning his hesitation, but swallowed it as she saw the look on Chris’ face. It was the complete opposite of his prior impassive state, with the strongest emotion visible in his features being something akin to panic as he stared past Paige at the now closing front door.

“We can’t go in there!” he uttered without so much as looking at his aunt. After a short pause he emphasised, “ _I_ can’t go in there!”

For a moment, Paige was confused at Chris’ reaction, but then a dark sense of foreboding gripped at her heart. She laid a hand on the young man’s shoulder as she tried to capture his gaze.

“Chris, what’s wrong? What’s going to happen here?”

The whitelighter kept avoiding her eyes as he replied.

“Just… trust me, okay? You don’t want to see this.” He shook his head slightly as he added, “We should never have been here today.”

But Paige wouldn’t let it go.

“Chris, these are _your_ memories,” she reminded her nephew. “I’m not sure if we even _can_ stay outside.”

As if to confirm her words, the world was filled with a bright white light once more, but this time only for a split second. When it was gone, they were standing in a corner of the manor’s living room.

A large banner reading ‘Happy Birthday’ was hanging across the ceiling, colourful balloons were everywhere and to top it all off, there was a two-story birthday cake on the table that must have taken Piper hours to make.

The proud mother had just finished hugging her son and stepped aside to make room for the other relatives to do the same, but when Paige looked from her to the adult Chris, she noticed that there were tears shining in his eyes. Judging by his reaction, something terrible was about to occur, and yet, she couldn’t stop herself from watching the assembled people in amazement.

The man her older self was just walking over to and whom she kissed softly was without a doubt Richard, his hair greyed at the temples, but still as handsome as the last time she had seen him only minutes ago. Paige also couldn’t shake off the impression that two of the present children, a boy and a girl, showed clear resemblance to her and the sorcerer. Her heart swelled at the sight of her family and if there had been even a trace of doubt left in her, whether it had been the right decision to give their love another chance, now she knew for sure.

After another long moment, Paige’s eyes wandered further to the other birthday guests and she was willing to take any bet that the remaining four children, all girls, belonged to Phoebe and the handsome man by her side. Even though she had never seen her future brother-in-law before, his kind-hearted demeanour and the loving expression with which he looked at Phoebe immediately convinced Paige that her sister had indeed found the right man as well.

“Who is that?” she asked in a hushed tone, still completely caught up in the scene in front of her.

“Uncle Coop,” Chris replied, while his eyes were wandering over his family as well. In contrast to Paige, however, there wasn't even a hint of fascination in his features, only the marks of a devastating sadness and continued panic at being forced to witness what was going to happen here today.

After another long moment of watching the happy gathering in front of them, Chris looked over to Paige and his brow creased at the sight of her excitement. While his aunt was staring in wonder at the next generation of witches, he blinked the tears from his eyes and then grabbed her arm resolutely.

“You should get out of here.” Chris was deadly serious.

Paige returned his gaze in confusion.

“What? Why?”

However, Chris ignored her request for an explanation as he continued.

“You have to concentrate on returning to the real world, that should get you back. I don’t want you to see this.”

The young woman scrutinised her nephew closely, finally realising how much this situation was actually getting to him. So of course it was completely out of the question for her to leave him now.

“Chris, no matter what’s going to happen next, I can handle it,” she pointed out, freeing herself from his grasp in the process. “I don’t want you to have to go through any of this alone, so I’m staying. No discussion!”

Chris rolled his eyes and sighed at Paige’s reply. He was obviously about to argue his point further, but stopped in his tracks as he suddenly heard his mother’s cheerful voice. A devastated look appeared on his face.

“And now it’s time for the presents!” Piper had carried a large box wrapped with a ribbon into the room and now approached her fourteen year old son with it, a bright smile adorning her features. She moved to hand the present to Chris, but before she could do so, a dark figure appeared behind her out of nowhere.

The young Chris and the rest of the assembled family saw him right away, but before even one of them managed to react, the demon had already stabbed the unprepared witch with his sword. Nothing but a surprised gasp escaped Piper’s throat while she kept staring at her son, never breaking eye contact despite her injury. Chris returned her gaze, petrified, even when all hell broke loose around them only a second later.

Demons appeared everywhere and as the birthday party began to turn into a bloodbath, Paige could finally understand her nephew’s panic all too well. As soon as the first demon had appeared, she had reached out for Chris’ arm and was now holding it in a death grip that was getting stronger with each passing moment, but the young man didn’t even seem to feel the pain.

Blood was dripping from the tip of the sharp blade protruding out of Piper’s chest and only when it was ripped out of her body with a forceful pull, the witch’s grip loosened and the present she was still holding fell from her hands. She followed the box with her eyes as it crashed to the floor with a shattering sound, prompting her to whisper, “Oh, no!” before she ultimately went to the ground as well.

Chris Halliwell, who had just turned fourteen years old, fell on his knees in front of his lifeless mother, completely oblivious to what was happening in the rest of the house. He neither saw how Richard pushed his wife aside, just to be killed instead by the fireball meant for her, nor did he notice how Phoebe shoved her two youngest daughters, who had been standing beside her, into the arms of their father and demanded him to get out with them.

She was staring at him with desperation in her eyes and yet Coop hesitated for a moment, obviously not wanting to leave his wife’s side. Once he glanced down at his two terrified daughters, however, he finally nodded and complied with Phoebe’s request, saving at least part of their family in the process.

Once Phoebe knew that the three would be safe, she turned back to the fight, a grim look on her face. It was replaced by one of sheer horror, though, as she was faced with the sight of her oldest daughter’s dead body lying at the feet of one of the demons.

“No!”

Phoebe’s scream drowned out the noise of the fighting for a moment, but when Paige’s son turned around to his aunt to see what had happened, he paid this moment of distraction with his life. He fell beside his sister, who was just drawing her last breaths, but still managed to take a hold of his hand, before her heart ultimately stopped beating.

This timeline’s Paige was still fighting, beside herself with rage after she had just lost her entire family. She tore through one demon after another, but ultimately one of them managed to strike her with his blade before being vanquished. Even though the witch tried her best to go on, she collapsed to the ground a few moments later.

By now only Phoebe and one of her daughters were still standing, but they, too, were overwhelmed despite their valiant efforts. The Charmed One was trying to defend her daughter, when one of the demons grabbed the girl by the throat and snapped her neck with a single movement.

Phoebe stood paralysed, shocked, and didn’t even try to move out of the way as she saw her enemy creating a fireball in his hand and throwing it at her. She was hit by the full blast of the impact and was dead before she even hit the ground.

Finally only Chris remained. All this time he had been kneeling beside his mother and had been staring into her dead eyes, blind to the fighting going on around him. Just like his aunt a moment ago, he didn’t care about his own survival.

The leader of the demons, the one who had killed Piper, stepped towards him, a triumphant grin distorting his hideous features. He stopped, however, as he realised the boy wasn’t paying any attention to him. He kicked angrily at Chris and then raised his sword for the final blow when the boy looked up at him at last. Before the blade could hit its target, though, Chris suddenly dissolved into hundreds of gleaming lights that vanished through the ceiling.

Paige, who had been watching these horrifying events with tears streaming down her cheeks, suddenly felt as if she was orbing, too. Before the world around her disappeared, though, she caught a glance of her injured counterpart who was reaching an arm towards her nephew and managed to orb him out of the house with her remaining strength.

 

* * *

 

When Paige had a good view at her surroundings again, she was surprised for a moment to find that they were now in Magic School. She hadn’t seen this particular room so far, but the design was unmistakable.

A high arching ceiling stretched out above an octagonal hall with wooden benches rising up at the walls like in a lecture hall. There were about a dozen people sitting there, spaciously allocated, most of them easily recognisable as teachers of the school thanks to their dark robes.

Leo was there, too, already sticking out of the crowd in his white-golden Elder robes, but even more so as he now sprung up from his seat after his youngest son had appeared in the centre of the room. A tall blond boy was standing beside the young Chris and eyed his appearance suspiciously.

“What is this?” Paige asked in a tear-constricted voice, as she slightly loosened her grip on Chris’ arm.

“It’s the hall for practical exams in Magic School,” Chris explained, “and that,” he pointed at the boy beside his younger self, “is Wyatt. He had been here to take a test and Leo had come to support him.”

He broke off, too shaken by what they had just witnessed, as Leo was already rushing down the stairs towards his sons. He was still running when he asked:

“Is that blood on your clothes? What happened?”

However, Chris was too shocked to answer right away. Wyatt obviously wasn’t too concerned about his brother’s well-being, as he grabbed his arm forcefully and shook him.

“Tell us, what’s going on?” he demanded, his voice more angry than worried.

Trembling all over, Chris returned his brother’s gaze and forced himself to speak.

“Mum… Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige… they’re all…”

Leo’s eyes widened at his son’s words and even Wyatt took a sharp breath at the reply.

“Where?” It was the only other question Leo asked, his eyes burning into Chris as he waited for an answer.

“Home.”

At this point Wyatt finally let go of his brother and looked at his father with a silent prompt. Leo simply nodded and without even another glance at Chris they both orbed towards the Halliwell Manor.

The teachers and the few other parents that were present had also risen from their seats by now and stared down at the dark haired boy, who was still kneeling in the centre of the floor mosaic, his head down and silent tears dripping from his cheeks.

**To be continued…**


	18. The Things That Shape Us (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prue and Patricia are Phoebe’s and Coop’s oldest daughters who didn’t survive the last chapter. I don’t think her children were given any names in the show’s finale, but I could imagine Phoebe calling them that.

Seconds stretched out like an eternity as the large hall was filled with horrified silence. Only when one of the teachers, an older witch, ran down the stairs to the crying teenager, did the others present come out of their stupor as well. Including the two more or less involuntary observers, who had just been forced to witness the obliteration of half of their family.

Paige had become even paler than usual and was looking from one Chris to the other, her face tear-stained.

By now the teacher had knelt down on the floor beside the boy and did her best to calm him, but he flinched back as she tried to embrace him. She looked at him with pity for a moment before she turned to the other teachers, giving them instructions to tell the students that there would be no more exams for the time being. During all of this, she remained next to Chris on the ground and gently began to stroke across his back to provide him at least some comfort. He allowed her touch, but kept his face averted so his expression was hidden. After some time his trembling subsided slightly, though.

Next to her adult nephew, Paige was still having a hard time processing everything she had just seen. She knew that none of this had happened yet and never would if she had a say in it, and yet, it was impossible to remain unaffected.

“Piper… Phoebe,” she whispered, trying to stifle the sobs that threatened to escape her. She had no idea what to do or say right now. “Richard… oh god… the children…” At this point, the witch took a sharp breath, knowing that she had to calm down if she didn’t want to lose it completely.

In the end she actually managed to collect herself again somewhat and merely shrugged, resigning herself to the fact that there was no right thing to say in all of this.

“How?” she asked, now directed at Chris, her voice constricted with tears. “How could you ever get through this?”

Chris took his time thinking about his answer while he watched his younger self and the terrible condition he had been in all those years ago. He remembered that in this moment ‘getting through this’ had seemed impossible, and yet he was standing here now, almost a decade later, still fighting.

“Honestly, at first I just wished I was dead, too,” Chris finally admitted with a heavy sigh. When he continued to speak after a short pause, his voice betrayed his shaken condition. “I still don’t remember everything that’s going to happen after this day, but I think that with a lot of time – and Grandpa’s help – life just somehow… went on.”

Paige seemed to be waiting for something more, but when Chris didn’t have anything else to add, she asked, “And your dad? And Wyatt?”

Chris’ lips hardened to a thin line before he answered his aunt.

“As you’ve already seen, Leo and I weren’t exactly close before, but now, after mum’s death our relationship became icy. Well, and Wyatt—” but before Chris could finish the sentence, he was interrupted by angry voices coming from the corridor outside and a moment later the heavy oak doors to the hall were pushed open.

“I don’t care if exams are being held right now or not. I have to talk to Leo and Wyatt.”

A rather small witch, who had obviously not yet heard about what had happened, tried vehemently to stop the relentless intruder, but couldn’t prevent him from storming into the exam hall.

“Uncle Coop?”

The man instantly froze on the spot as he heard Chris’ disbelieving voice and noticed the boy in the centre of the room. His features turned to stone as he seemed to be preparing himself for the worst. He shoved the witch, who had been trying to stop him, aside and headed towards his nephew.

“Chris, what—” Coop couldn’t get any further, though, as Chris suddenly got up from the floor and wrapped his arms around him, weeping bitterly.

The cupid hesitated a second, the fear for his wife and his two daughters, who had remained in the Halliwell Manor, written across his face. He obviously wasn’t able to ignore the boy’s desperation, though, and so he stayed quiet for a moment and simply returned his nephew’s embrace.

They remained like this for a few seconds, the young whitelighter clinging to his uncle almost for dear life, until he finally broke his silence and began to speak, still in tears.

“I’m so sorry! I should have done something. I… I just let them all die… I killed them!” Chris burst out, the words tumbling from his mouth as his grip on his uncle became even tighter.

As he heard his nephew’s words, however, Coop suddenly pushed him away a little, so he could look into Chris’ eyes, unmasked fear etched into his features.

“Chris, what happened? Where are Phoebe and Prue and Patricia?” he asked, begging the boy with his eyes to tell him that they had made it, that they were safe. Deep down, however, Coop certainly knew that he wasn’t going to be that lucky.

Chris lowered his head as he replied, effectively averting his uncle’s desperate gaze. 

“They’re… they’re dead,” he sobbed silently. “Except from me, only Aunt Paige was still alive, but she was badly injured when she orbed me here. And I’m sure the demons killed her for that, just like the others. Like mum.”

Tears were still running down the teenager’s face as he was now looking at his uncle again, begging him with his eyes for forgiveness.

Coop had stepped back from his nephew at the news of his wife’s and daughters’ deaths and had turned away from him, trying futilely to somehow process what he had just heard.

“It all happened so fast and I… I couldn’t move. All I could see was mum. I’m so sorry. It was my fault, it was all my fault.” At these last words, Chris fell back onto his knees, but before he could revert back to his previous state of shock, Coop was kneeling in front of him, looking straight at him.

“Chris, don’t say that! I know you would have done something to stop the attack if you could have, but you were in shock after what… what that demon did to Piper. You’re not to blame, this isn’t your fault. Understood?” the cupid emphasised, his eyes shining with tears in light of his own loss.

The young whitelighter returned his gaze rather reluctantly, but nodded in the end, causing his uncle to hug him tightly once more.

Paige and Chris, who had been watching the events in front of them the entire time, were still standing in the back of the room. They had been completely quiet the last couple of minutes, had barely dared to breathe in fact, even though they knew that nobody was aware of them, anyway. Now the silence between them was suddenly broken when Paige snivelled loudly.

Sympathetically, but also with a new sense of admiration, she looked up at her grown-up nephew once more while trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to come back.” She was entirely serious, causing Chris to raise an eyebrow at her.

 “Well, it’s not like I actually knew what was waiting for me in my memories,” he pointed out, but Paige shook her head before rephrasing her earlier statement.

“No, I mean back to us, to our time. You had to know that your mission could take longer and you would have to spend a lot of time with us. You even became our whitelighter and all but lived with us, your family, without us knowing who you were. And that after everything you’ve been through. I don’t think I could have done that.” Although the witch had just been winning the fight against her tears, they now started to run down her cheeks again freely.

Chris thought hard about what he was going to answer his aunt to this, but had to realise that all his memories that lay in the future from this point on were still very hazy. However, he was completely certain about one thing.

“It was worth it. I would do anything that’s necessary to protect Wyatt from turning evil. And in addition to that,” he continued with a smile, even though he still had tears in his eyes, “coming back meant that I could at least be with you all once more. And we’ll be able to say goodbye when I go back to my time.”

Paige nodded understandingly. After the sudden death of her parents she would have done anything to be able to say goodbye to them, but she had never had the chance. It had to be at least a small consolation for Chris to be able to make his farewell from his family in the past now.

The whitelighter looked over to his younger self as a bright light blinded him and Paige again. It only took a few seconds until they found themselves in a new location once more, but at first Chris wasn’t sure about what was awaiting them here.

They were standing in the middle of a tunnel, the area illuminated by the light of one of the torches that had been mounted on the rough stone walls. As Chris looked around, he could see no end to the tunnel in either direction, its narrow path stretching on for what seemed like forever.

He and Paige weren’t alone, though. His younger self was standing not far from them, this time accompanied by Wyatt.

The two brothers still looked the same age as they had before; not more than a few months could have passed since the horrible events at the manor that had torn Chris’ whole world apart.

His memories of this time in his life were only returning slowly, and so at first, the young man had no idea what was going to happen now, what he and Paige were about to witness next. The tunnel did seem familiar, that much he knew, and the more he looked around, the more the haze in his mind began to clear, leaving him with the realisation that the horror this trip into his past had been putting them through wasn’t over yet.

This time, though, he wasn’t so much concerned about himself, rather the woman standing next to him. Chris swallowed heavily as he looked over to his aunt. He was trying to come up with a better way to convince her to leave than his previous attempt.

“I want you to go now, Paige. You’ve already learned way too much about the future as it is and there are things you should better not see,” he argued, hoping that not wanting to mess up the timeline was more convincing than him simply being worried about Paige herself.

The witch’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Chris, but then she turned to face her two younger nephews again, before answering him.

“Can you force me to go back to Magic School?”

The whitelighter thought about this briefly, but then shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so,” he admitted.

Out of the corner of her eye, Paige glanced at him with a triumphant grin and continued in a resolute tone.

“Then forget it! You’ve been carrying these horrible memories for far too long now, Chris, and no matter what else is still going to happen,” she took his hand at this point and held it tightly, “you’re not alone in this anymore.”

Despite the terrible circumstances they were under at the moment, Chris couldn’t help himself but smile at his aunt’s words. He had been living with his loss for years now, while she had only just learned about their family’s early death, and yet she was still able to console him in this situation. He was more grateful to her for this than he could ever put into words.

At this moment, his younger self suddenly attracted Chris’ attention, as he began to speak after having looked around the tunnel carefully.

“Are you sure we’re going to find her here? I mean, we’ve already turned half the underworld upside down, searching for her.” The fourteen year old Chris looked up at his brother sceptically, the latter having his eyes closed, obviously concentrating on something. He remained unmoving for a few seconds until he finally answered.

“Yes, I’m certain. Most of the demons are in a huge cave this way,” he pointed towards his right, down the gloomy tunnel, “and Aunt Paige is in that direction.” This time he pointed the opposite way.

The young woman whose name had just been mentioned drew a startled breath as she looked up at her nephew.

“So I’m still alive? I thought I was killed during the attack on the house.”

Before Chris could reply anything, he was interrupted by his younger counterpart, who was about to go down the tunnel towards his left.

“Then let’s not waste any more time! We have to finally get her out of here.”

“No!” Wyatt replied matter-of-factly. “First we’re going to take care of the demons.”

His brother froze on the spot, his expression horrified as he turned to the older boy.

“What? You can’t be serious, right? Aunt Paige has been kept prisoner here for almost four months now; we have to free her as soon as possible!”

However, Wyatt remained undeterred and showed not a hint of understanding for Chris’ urgency.

“There you have it; she’s been here for so long, she’s not going to go anywhere now. Unlike those demons; they might flee when they learn of my presence here and I cannot allow that. It was far too hard to find them to let them get away after all.”

It was silent for a moment after this statement, until Chris quietly replied.

“And here I thought we were trying to find Aunt Paige all this time.” 

Wyatt’s aura became darker and more menacing as his expression turned into an angry mask.

“Those demons, those… animals have obliterated almost our entire family. They killed mum right in front of your eyes so don’t tell me that you don’t want revenge! Don’t tell me that you’re willing to let them get away with it!”

Chris held his brother’s piercing glare as he stepped towards him.

“Believe me, I know exactly what they did and I will never be able to forget it, either, but Aunt Paige is still alive and who knows what they’ll do to her once they realise that we’re killing their men. She saved my life and I’m not going to risk hers for revenge!”

Wyatt seemed to ponder these words for a moment, until he ultimately shrugged in response.

“Whatever. You go and save her then! I have an appointment with a bunch of demons to get to.” With these words he made Excalibur appear in his hand and marched down the tunnel in the direction opposite from his brother.

Chris stared after him with a disbelieving look in his eyes, but after a few seconds he turned around and started walking, too, determined to rescue his aunt. Paige and the adult Chris followed him in some distance.

“So the demons didn’t kill me like they did with the others?” Paige asked tentatively after a while.

“No, they kidnapped you,” Chris replied with a sigh. “Maybe because you saved me from them, but I don’t really know. Wyatt didn’t give them much of a chance to say anything about their motives.” He kept watching his younger version, who was walking several feet in front of them, intent on saving his aunt all by himself now.

Paige followed his gaze until she suddenly realised something and her brow furrowed ever so slightly.

“Why did you two even come here alone? Didn’t Leo want to go with you?”

Chris snorted contemptuously, while trying to kick a small stone lying on the ground. His foot passed through it without any effect, though.

“Since mum’s death he had only come down to earth once for her funeral. I think Wyatt saw him a few times, but even he said that Leo had been distant. He just couldn’t cope with her death.”

Paige raised an eyebrow as she looked up at her nephew.

“Okay, I can understand that, but you’re his son. He should have been there for you and your brother, especially after you’d been forced to see it all happen.”

“Well, that was kind of the problem,” Chris answered in return, the torn expression on his face belying the light-hearted tone of his voice.

Paige stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Chris in confusion.

“What? What do you mean by that? How could that have been the reason why Leo wasn’t there for you?” She barely made out Chris’ next words, as he was speaking very quietly and his face was turned away from her.

“Because he thinks it’s my fault.”

For a long moment Paige was completely speechless, shaking her head in disbelief, until she finally managed an answer.

“What? How could he think that? After what happened in the manor?”

Chris avoided her eyes and looked to the ground instead with a guilty expression. It took him a while to reply anything.

“It was my birthday and everyone was only there because of me. I was standing directly in front of mum and I didn’t save her. It’s no surprise that he thinks I’m responsible.”

At this point Paige walked towards her nephew until she was standing directly in front of him, laid her hand on his arm and waited for him to return her piercing glare.

“Chris, we’ve just seen with our own eyes what happened and your uncle was right. It was not your fault. And you weren’t the only one there; everyone saw the demon before he killed Piper, but it all happened so fast that nobody could react in time. So don’t let Leo talk you into believing such nonsense. He may be your father and an Elder, but he’s certainly not all-knowing.”

Paige kept his gaze for a few more seconds until the young man finally nodded. Satisfied, the witch let go of him again and looked around for a moment, only to realise that the younger version of her nephew already had quite a head start from on by now.

“Come on, we should get going,” she pointed out as she began walking again, faster this time to reduce the distance to the brown-haired boy in front of them.

Chris and his aunt remained quiet for a while as they continued to head down the tunnel, both of them dwelling on their own thoughts. In the end, it was Paige, who broke the silence again.

“I obviously don’t know everything that happened in the future, but this Leo you’re describing – the one we briefly saw in Magic School – isn’t the man I know anymore. He’s definitely not the same man Piper married.”

Chris thought about her words for a moment, but ultimately nodded.

“Yeah, in your time he’s different. We had our differences at first – you know, that whole thing about Valhalla,” he recalled with a wry smile, “but I think when he finds out I’m his son he’s going to accept me. Maybe he’ll even be happy about it, something he’s never been in the future.”

Paige looked at her nephew sympathetically and was about to say something reassuring, but was interrupted as soon as she had opened her mouth.

“Don’t tell me he loved me, Paige! You’ve only seen a few moments from my life, but I’ve lived for years with the fact that my own father couldn’t care less about me. I mean, he never hit me or anything,” the young man stressed. “He was never abusive or even mean; he was just… absent, even when we were in the same room together. It was as if he didn’t even see me.”

Paige tried to think of something to say to her nephew, but soon realised that he didn’t want any advice or sympathy. He just needed to vent some of his frustrations and so she decided not to interrupt him.

“After mum’s death I had to tell dad, Wyatt and Uncle Coop everything that had happened, especially because you weren’t among the victims. We were sitting in an empty room in Magic School and I remember how he didn’t say a single word the entire time. Only when I was finished he looked at me and asked: ‘Why didn’t you do anything?’” Chris halted in his speech for a second, a haunted look passing over his features at the memory. Even after all these years, he could still hear his father’s voice in his ears, asking that question over and over again. He quickly forced himself to continue, though, not wanting Paige to worry about him any more than she already did.

“I didn’t know what to say to that, but that wasn’t even necessary. Uncle Coop started shouting at Leo, that he could understand his pain, but that he didn’t have to be so could-hearted towards me. They left the room after that so we wouldn’t hear them anymore, although it didn’t really help,” he pointed out with a half-hearted smile.

“Uncle Coop said that me being traumatised after mum’s death was normal, but I couldn’t hear what dad replied to that. When the door opened again he was gone and I only saw him again at her funeral.”

With these words he finished his recount and kept walking in silence next to his aunt. He didn’t remember the tunnel being this long, but he had probably been too deep in thought back then.

Paige remained quiet, too, as she still couldn’t think of anything useful to say to all of this. In the end she settled for simply resting a hand on her nephew’s shoulder, in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. They kept going like this for a while, until they noticed the tunnel becoming wider about fifty meters in front of them.

The younger Chris crept along the tunnel in a crouching position now, while conjuring an energy ball in one of his hands. Surprised, his aunt looked over to her adult nephew.

“You can create energy balls? Why have I never seen that before?”

Chris thought for a long moment about the question before answering, all the while rubbing his upper arm unconsciously, his brow furrowed.

“I’m not really sure, but I think someone took that power from me. I just… don’t remember yet, sorry.”

He didn’t have any more time to think about this, however, as his younger self suddenly leapt forward and threw the energy ball at a demon standing guard. He went up in flames immediately, just like the one behind him that Chris first threw back with a fling of his arm and then vanquished with a potion.

Paige and her adult nephew followed the boy and were now standing inside a small cave that seemed to have served as a guard post. To their left there was another tunnel diverting from it, which was even more sparsely lit than the one they had just come from.

After making sure that there were no other demons in the vicinity, the young Chris proceeded down this second tunnel, careful to make as little noise as possible. Paige and his older self followed him, always concerned about not losing him in the semi-darkness.

When the tunnel suddenly made a sharp turn to the right, Chris stopped again and pressed himself against the wall so he was almost completely concealed by the shadows. Then he conjured another energy ball, but did his best to hide it, so he was still barely visible. Paige was about to ask Chris what his younger version was doing there, when she could suddenly hear footsteps coming towards them from around the corner.

The demon that appeared a few seconds later didn’t even have a chance to react, as Chris’ energy ball hit him and he went up in flames. For a moment, there was a wide grin on the boy’s lips as he stepped around the corner, but it was quickly wiped off his face again, as he realised that there was another guard positioned next to the heavy wooden door at the end of the corridor.

This demon had of course been warned by his comrade’s death and immediately threw a fireball at Chris, which the boy couldn’t avoid completely. He jumped to the side, but grimaced in pain when the projective grazed his thigh. He managed to react quickly, though, and pulled another vanquishing potion that had survived the fall out of his pocket and threw it at the demon right away.

As this last obstacle was finally removed, Chris gathered himself up from the floor and walked with firm steps towards his destination at the end of the corridor. On the way he picked up the key ring the demon had dropped during the fight and used it to unlock the heavy door.

“Is this where they’ve been keeping me?” Paige wondered, her voice piercing the tense silence just as the younger version of her nephew entered the large dungeon that had come into view in front of them.

Her eyes shifted across the room and the dirty bars that were the only thing visible of most of the cells. She was both curious and scared to see her future self again, knowing that months of imprisonment under these terrible conditions would have taken their toll.

“Yeah,” the adult Chris whispered and Paige was startled for a moment when he suddenly grabbed her hand, just like she had done with him earlier. She was just going to ask what this was all about, when her attention focused back on Chris’ past self instead.

The boy had pulled a torch out of its mounting and was walking deeper into the dungeon, close to the cells, peering inside. Most of them seemed to be empty, but all of a sudden, a demon’s claw shot out between two bars and the teenager only barely managed to evade its grip, causing his future aunt to jump in shock.

She pressed her older nephew’s hand for a moment, now relieved that he was providing some support in this situation. Although she did have a feeling that he wasn’t doing this only to help her through a jump scare.

In front of them, the younger Chris had been continuing his search, this time with a little more distance to the cells, but now stopped abruptly.

“Aunt Paige!” he shouted as he ran towards a cell only a few meters ahead of him.

Behind him, the other Paige could make out a body lying on the ground in the back of that cell, but her older self didn’t show any reaction to the voice of her nephew.

At first, the young Chris tried to open the metal door separating him from his aunt with one of the keys he had taken from the guard, but as one after the other proved to be wrong, he ultimately lost his patience. He took a step back and opened the door with the help of his telekinetic powers instead, destroying not just the lock, but literally tearing the entire door out of its hinges in the process.

Paige’s eyebrows rose at this display of power from her nephew’s past self, but then again, she could more than understand the rush of adrenaline he had to be feeling right now. She watched as the young boy was at his aunt’s side in an instant and knelt down next to her; they both flinched as the light from the torch fell on her face.

Paige inhaled a shaky breath as she finally saw her future self, merely a shadow of the woman she had been only a few months ago. She was extremely emaciated and underneath all the dirt that was covering her body, her skin wasn’t just pale anymore, but had taken on a sickly greyish tone.

“Aunt Paige.” Chris gently stroked across his aunt’s cheek, but she still wasn’t moving. As he reached for her wrist to check for a pulse, the younger Paige held her breath for a moment, only releasing it as she saw a relieved expression passing over her nephew’s features a moment later.

At least her future self was still alive, something she hadn’t been sure of once she had noticed the numerous bruises and cuts all over her body. Most of the wounds seemed to have become infected, only aggravating the woman’s condition even further.

“Chris?”

The boy lifted his eyes to his aunt’s face immediately and actually managed a small smile as he found her looking back at him.

“Yes, Aunt Paige, I’m here,” he told her, causing the other Paige to press her nephew’s hand more tightly, glad that he was here with her now, too.

Her older self returned the boy’s smile, although a little hesitantly. When she continued to speak, her voice was so soft that it was making her hard to understand.

“It’s good to see you. I already thought that my condition didn’t have any positive aspects at all.”

For a moment, a look of confusion spread over Chris’ face, until he shook his head adamantly, tears shining in his eyes now.

“I’m not a hallucination, I’m really here.” To emphasise his words, he took his aunt’s hand and pressed it against his cheek, so she could feel his presence. “You see? Wyatt and I came to get you home.”

“Wyatt?” The witch looked over her nephews shoulder, but there was no one there. At least nobody whom she could see. Visibly ashamed, Chris looked down to the ground before continuing.

“Yes, he’s… he’s keeping the demons at bay at the moment, but he’ll be here soon to heal you.” He turned his face to the ceiling and called for his brother loudly. “Wyatt! Wyatt, you need to come quickly, Aunt Paige needs you!”

Tears flooded his eyes and the younger Paige, who was watching all of this with growing horror, knew exactly why. Because he had realised how true his statement actually was.

Her future self was terribly sick; all these months in this cold cell had taken their toll on her and now she was literally on the brink of death. Alone and unconscious she would probably have slowly faded from this world within the next day or two, but now that she had mobilised her remaining strength to wake up and talk, she wouldn’t have that much time left.

“It’s impossible to orb here into the dungeon, so it’s just going to take a little while until he’s here,” Paige heard Chris trying to reassure his aunt and probably himself as well.

“It’s alright.” The dying woman’s voice was barely a whisper now, but she still tightened her hold on Chris’ hand.

“No! No, it’s not!” the teenager protested. “You saved my life and I’m not going to let you die here.” He threw his head back once again and yelled at the top of his lungs. “WYATT! You have to come here right now!” Visibly distraught, Chris looked from his aunt to the exit of the dungeon and back again, until his features hardened in a resolute expression. He took a deep breath, visibly calming down for the moment.

“If Wyatt won’t come here, I’m just going to get you to him, Aunt Paige. Maybe he simply can’t hear me through the magical barrier that’s around the dungeon,” the teenager pointed out, throwing a doubtful glance at the ceiling before focusing back on his aunt.

“Now you have to work with me on this, okay? You have to get up!” He wrapped Paige’s arm around his shoulder and tried to help her up from the ground, but the witch was obviously too weak to hold herself upright. After several failed attempts, even Chris had to realise this and so he let himself and his aunt sink back to the ground carefully, so that Paige’s head came to rest against his chest.

Just outside of the cell, the younger version of the Charmed One and her adult nephew were still standing, watching the moment in front of them in complete silence. Paige was pressing Chris’ hand tightly as she kept averting her gaze repeatedly, not wanting to see what she knew was going to happen next. Right now, she just wished she had listened to her nephew earlier and left, although deep down a part of her still wouldn’t have wanted to abandon him, either.

Back in the cell, the teenage Chris was gently stroking his aunt’s hair, as there didn’t seem to be much left to do aside from comforting her. However, the young whitelighter wasn’t ready to give up, after all.

“I’m going to get him,” he suddenly declared, his voice shaking, but determined. “I’ll just run back all the way and then I’m going to drag Wyatt back here by his blond hair if I have to.” Chris already started to move to get up and put his plan into action, but was held back by Paige whose eyes were closed again, but who was obviously still conscious.

“Stop it, okay? Just stay with me and let me go.” Her voice was only a whisper at this point, faint and almost gone.

A sob escaped Chris’ throat at this.

“But—” he began, only to fall silent the moment Paige continued.

“Richard… our children… they’re all dead, aren’t they?” she asked, all hope gone from her voice.

Chris gently wrapped an arm around his aunt before answering her.

“Yes,” he admitted, grief etched deeply into his features.

Silent tears ran down both Paige’s cheeks at this reply. The younger version outside the cell already thought that her counterpart had fallen silent for good and was actually surprised when the other woman suddenly spoke again.

“Be careful about your brother,” she murmured, prompting her nephew to look down at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes searching her face for an explanation.

At this point, Paige opened her eyes once more despite her weakenped state and looked up at her nephew with a piercing glare.

“You know exactly what I mean, Chris. He is… changing. That’s why he’s not going to come.”

Finally overwhelmed by her exhaustion, the witch let her eyes fall shut once more, her head resting against her nephew’s chest.

“Take care.” The words ghosted over her lips before Paige finally became completely still. Her chest rose a few more times, barely noticeable, until even that movement ceased and there was nothing left but silence.

**To be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you think!


	19. Confrontation

Eight years. It had been eight years for Chris since he had been that boy sitting in the filthy dungeon cell, his dead aunt in his arms, and even after all this time, Paige’s death remained just as senseless to him as it had seemed in that moment.

He could vividly remember now how his world had shattered all over again as the only thing that had been keeping him alive and functioning during the months since his mother’s death – his desire to save his aunt – had slipped right through his fingers. He had been convinced he could save her, but in the end it had all been for nothing. He had not been fast enough – or powerful enough – to save Paige’s life.

“I don’t even know how long I stayed here like that; it felt like hours. I just… I wanted to save you so badly, Paige. I’m sorry,” Chris muttered, his attention still focused entirely on the scene in front of him, despite the fact that his words had been addressed to his aunt. He was only pulled back to the present, when Paige’s hand suddenly slipped from his grasp.

As Chris turned towards her, his aunt had taken a few steps backwards, away from him and his past – and her future – self. Her entire body was trembling, her breathing shallow, and the young whitelighter mentally kicked himself for not noticing sooner how much she had been affected by the events they had just witnessed.

Before he had the chance to say anything, though, Paige finally tore her eyes away from her dead counterpart and looked at her nephew pleadingly.

“Tell me that he really couldn’t hear you!” the witch all but shouted. “Or that he simply didn’t make it in time or something like that! Wyatt, my own nephew, didn’t just let me die like that, right?” Paige’s eyes were begging him for an answer she had to know she would never receive as tears were streaming down her face.

Chris didn’t know what to say. He was so used to Wyatt’s ruthlessness that he hadn’t expected his betrayal to hit his aunt this hard. Plus, he had been telling the sisters about his brother’s change. In the end, however, it seemed as if nothing could have prepared Paige for seeing the harsh truth for herself now.

Chris took a deep breath as he was about to answer his aunt’s question, but for a brief moment he looked to the ground in shame without even realising it. This unconscious gesture was apparently enough of a reply for the witch, though, as her condition became even worse and she seemed to be heading straight for a breakdown.

Paige was clearly not getting enough air anymore and as her knees threatened to buckle underneath her, Chris rushed forward and pulled her into a tight hug to prevent her from collapsing.

During everything they had seen so far – the deaths of Piper and Phoebe, Richard and even Paige’s children – the witch had been able to pull herself together, but to witness her own death now as well was obviously more than she could handle. Not to mention that it hadn’t been the actions of a demon that had ultimately thwarted the younger Chris’ efforts to save her life, but his own brother’s unwillingness to help.

Paige had her face buried against Chris’ shoulder while the young man held her, trying to calm her down. Her breathing was still shallow and uneven, though, so Chris knew he had to do something. But what?

What could he possibly do or say in this situation to help Paige? What words could make everything she had just seen more bearable, the death of almost her entire family and now even her own, because Wyatt hadn’t cared about what happened to her?

In the end the young whitelighter sighed as he tightened his hold on his aunt.

“I’m so sorry you had to see this, Paige,” he whispered. “I wish I could tell you that Wyatt wanted to save you, that he was simply too late, but… but that’s just not what happened.

He hesitated for a moment, then proceeded to push Paige away gently by the shoulders to look into her eyes.

“Now you know why I came back. If I manage to prevent whatever happened to Wyatt in your time, he will never become like this. I don’t know how exactly that will change the future, but I swear to you that I will not let something like this happen again. Ok?”

As Chris studied his aunt’s expression, he noticed with relief that her breathing had become more even again and she seemed to be merely exhausted now.

“Ok,” Paige finally replied with a small nod. “I just… I think I’m really ready to go back to Magic School now.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Chris agreed, the briefest of smiles passing over his lips. The moment he had said the words, the two Halliwells were once again blinded by a bright light, but much to his chagrin, their surroundings did not change into the interior of the classroom back in Magic School where they had begun their journey. Instead, they found themselves at the entrance of a large cave, an all too familiar looking tunnel stretching on into the distance behind them.

Paige freed herself from Chris’ hold and looked around, only to inhale sharply the moment she took in the scene in front of her. She immediately stepped closer to her nephew again, clearly shocked.

Next to the two, the fourteen years old Chris now stepped out of the tunnel as well, he, too, stopping abruptly as he saw what was going on inside the cave. He was wearing the same clothes as before and the wound on his leg where a fireball from one of the guards had hit him was still clearly visible. Not much time could have passed since the last memory Paige and her adult nephew had seen and they were obviously still in the lair of their family’s murderers.

The witch shuddered as her eyes wandered over the interior of the cave. Dead demons were lying everywhere on the ground; or at least they should have been dead, considering the state most of them were in.

Gaping wounds, apparently left behind by Excalibur’s blade, were visible all over their bodies, their clothes were drenched in blood and Paige flinched as she noticed a few severed limbs lying on the floor as well. And yet the demons were all still moving, were obviously kept alive in some unnatural way, as their pained screams and the agony of their death throes were echoing from the walls.

Paige pulled her eyes away from the carnage in front of her and looked to her adult nephew, noticing both anger and revulsion on his face. Before she could ask him what was going on here, though, she was interrupted by his younger self, who seemed to have overcome his initial horror by now.

“You heard me, didn’t you?” His voice was dangerously low, but Paige could hear the tension in it all too clearly. At first she couldn’t make out Wyatt in all the chaos, but then her nephew stepped forward, over the dying bodies, towards a figure kneeling on the ground above one of the demons.

“At least have the decency to answer me! I know that you heard me and just because you couldn't tear yourself away from your...” Chris’ eyes swept across the demons lying on the ground, “ _massacre_ here, Aunt Paige died.”

The boy stared at the back of his brother’s head with contempt, until the other finally stood up and turned around to him.

Wyatt’s hands, his face and his clothes were covered in blood and Paige had the frightening thought that he had been killing some of his opponents with his bare hands. Even the younger version of her nephew froze for a moment at the sight, giving his brother the opportunity to reply to his accusations.

“You’ve got that wrong, Chris. She didn’t die because of me, but because of these monsters here.” His eyes full of hatred, he looked down at the writhing figures for a second, until a triumphant expression spread across his face. “But I’ve avenged her death. And mum’s and the others’.”

Clearly speechless, Chris merely stared at Wyatt in silence for a few seconds.

Paige could barely believe how the blond was twisting the facts to justify his thirst for revenge; he wasn’t even denying that he had actually heard – and ignored – his brother’s cries for help.

“She was still alive!” Chris finally shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you? Paige was our aunt and you could have saved her!”

In reaction to these words, Wyatt only regarded his younger brother with a derisive look and a humourless laugh, while walking slowly closer to him.

“And for what reason should I have done that? Mum and Aunt Phoebe are dead, the Power of Three destroyed. I’m sure there is nothing I could still have learned from Aunt Paige, so what should I have needed her for, anyway?” A malicious smile was playing on his lips, causing Chris to finally lose control.

With a rage filled scream he tackled his brother and hit him in the face with his fist so unexpectedly that they both tumbled to the ground together. Chris tried to land another hit, but didn’t get the chance as Wyatt used his telekinetic powers to throw his attacker off of himself.

Before the boy crashed to the ground, however, he was suddenly suspended in mid-air, unable to move, while Wyatt slowly struggled back to his feet. He looked at his brother with a mixture of anger and recognition, as he was wiping the blood off his lips where Chris had hit him.

“You are angry, I can understand that. And you are my brother, so I will forgive you for this one more time, but if you ever dare to attack me again, I won’t show you any more mercy than I showed to these monsters here.” He let his eyes wander once more over the maimed demons as he walked slowly over to Chris.

The younger boy followed Wyatt's example and let the horrible sight sink in for a moment as well before answering.

“Why even seek revenge if you don’t really care about what happens to your own family? To any of us? Was it just so you would have an excuse for all of this?” Chris wondered, looking over at the wounded demons once more.

This time Wyatt shook his head at his brother’s words, his expression disappointed.

“Chris, you just don’t understand what this is about. Do you really think I would simply tolerate it that a bunch of demons slaughters my family? That I would let that stand? They had to pay for their actions and to merely kill them would not have been enough for what they did. That is why I keep them in this world; they are unable to die as long as I choose to punish them and so far I don’t see any reason to release them.” He looked directly into Chris’ eyes as he continued and Paige had some difficulty understanding him from her position.

“Or what do you think, brother? Should I set them free?” He loosened his hold over Chris a little, so that the boy could at least move his head. When Wyatt resumed talking, he stared down at one of the heavily injured demons beside them. The creature had an enormous cut across his chest and seemed to be choking on his own blood. He was also missing half an arm.

“Look at them carefully and think about what they did. How they murdered mum and most of our family and turned our home into a bloodbath.” Wyatt lifted his eyes again and watched the indecisive expression on his brother’s face as the younger boy was looking down at the demon.

“They are suffering now just as you have suffered, as you are still suffering. That’s why I’m leaving the decision to you about what should happen with them now. Should I end their pain and let them die? Put them out of their misery? Is that what you want?”

Paige watched the two brothers and the whole situation with a mixture of fascination and horror until her eyes moved over to her adult nephew, who had been unsettlingly quiet the entire time. She had expected all of this to take a toll on him, but as she looked at him now, she was still caught off guard by his condition.

All the colour had vanished from Chris’ face and he looked almost about to throw up as his eyes, like those of his younger self, were fixed on the half dead demon that was lying on the ground next to the two teenagers.

The eyes of the black-clad man were wide in agony as he stared up at the brown haired boy who was about to decide his fate. He seemed to be trying to say something, probably to beg for mercy, but no intelligible sound escaped his throat.

When Paige now looked around the cave one more time, she could easily relate to the disgust Chris was obviously feeling. Wyatt had inflicted horrible injuries to all of these demons; none of them would normally still be alive and even though the witch hated them with every fibre of her being for what they had done to her family, her insides curled at the sight of what was happening here.

“No.”

The younger Chris’ answer hit Paige so unexpectedly that she started looking from one nephew to the other in confusion for a few moments, unsure if she had understood him correctly.

“No,” Chris repeated, “I don’t want them to just get away with it. I want them to feel firsthand all the pain they caused, everything they did.”

“Believe me, that is the right decision,” Wyatt assured him. Then he released his magical hold over Chris, so he dropped safely back onto his feet again. The dark haired boy stayed where he was for a moment, his face an emotionless mask. He stared at the injured demons around him in silence and Paige had the impression that he was battling his own feelings.

Finally she did tear her eyes away from him and looked over to the adult Chris, who still hadn’t said a word since they had arrived in the cave. On the one hand she could understand him all too well. After all, she had seen for herself what he had been through; but on the other hand she was still shocked by his younger self’s ruthless decision and it painfully reminded her of the multiple occasions when the whitelighter had seemingly tossed all morals aside to achieve his goals.

However, when Chris finally spoke, a wave of relief washed over Paige.

“God knows that they earned everything they got, but I should never have done that. Something like this is Wyatt’s way, not mine and I think that it’s in part because of this decision that he still believes until today that he can pull me over to his side.” The young whitelighter sighed heavily and let himself sink onto the floor, where he pulled his legs closer to his body and rested his head against the wall.

Why did his whole life just have to be this messed-up? Weren’t the deaths of his mother and half his family and Wyatt’s merciless pursuit of power enough, did he really have to face his own horrible decisions now, too?

Completely worn out, Chris watched his younger self and his brother and as he sat there, he suddenly started to wonder how his life would have went if Paige had been killed immediately during the demon attack at the manor. If Wyatt’s unforgivable behaviour during their rescue attempt hadn’t repelled him, would he have followed his brother on his path? Would they have fought side by side to take control first of the underworld and finally of the entire planet?

Chris wished he could answer these questions with a clear ‘no’, but by now he wasn’t really sure anymore.

He remembered again that after the demon attack he had been filled with an enormous desire for revenge – just like Wyatt – but unlike his brother, he had concentrated his energy on finding and saving Paige. But what if this goal hadn’t been available…

“Too bad I would have to stay here to keep control over them,” Wyatt suddenly proclaimed, pulling Chris out of his thoughts. “These monsters don’t deserve the mercy of death, but I don’t want to stay down here forever, either. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Wyatt stepped cheerfully over the field of injured demons while his brother had retreated back into a corner of the cave. His expression was a mixture of the determination to stick to his decision and the nausea he clearly felt at the sight of the maimed bodies.

Paige actually thought that the boy’s complexion had become even paler at the notion of leaving the demons in this state forever.

The minutes crept by like an eternity as all the Halliwells present were caught up in their own thoughts. Paige swallowed heavily as she continued to look at Chris’ younger self. She was becoming painfully aware of the sheer size of the dark abyss that was the young whitelighter’s past. Of course she hadn’t expected this journey into his memories to be a walk in the park, but all this pain and death they had witnessed so far was more than she could have imagined in her worst nightmares. She had no idea how Chris had ever managed to get over all this.

She herself had already been on the verge of a nervous breakdown, even though she knew that she would soon return to a world where none of this had happened so far and they might still be able to prevent it. The more she thought about this now, though, the more she realised how close Chris had probably been to following his brother.

Paige’s eyes fell once more on the dark haired boy and she realised with surprise that he was staring towards the tunnel entrance next to her, lost in his thoughts. All the determination that he had expressed earlier was gone now and had made way for an indescribable sadness that was reflected in his expression.

“Mum would be ashamed of us if she could see us now.”

Wyatt groaned and rolled his eyes in reaction to his brother’s words, but Chris didn’t seem to have heard him as he now continued.

“She wouldn’t have wanted something like this. And after what happened to Paige—” Chris’ voice was already very quiet, but at this point, Wyatt interrupted him harshly.

“Stop it, okay?”

Chris flinched visibly at his brother’s command and Paige noted that Wyatt had unconsciously used the same words her dying counterpart had not too long ago.

“You have to stop always asking yourself what mum or our aunts would think about what you do. You’ve been doing that your entire life and it has always kept you from reaching your limits. Now they’re dead and you finally have to make your own decisions. Look at me; I don’t let myself become restrained by what others think is right.” Wyatt stared directly into Chris’ eyes, as if he was trying to convince him of his words just through his gaze alone.

“I am the most powerful being that has ever existed on this planet; my powers aren’t meant to be hidden or suppressed, and neither are yours.” Now he approached his brother decisively and reached out his hand at his next words.

“Join me! Stand by my side and from now on we’ll only do what _we_ think is right and nobody will be able to stand in our way ever again!”

Chris looked at his brother’s outstretched hand for a few moments, apparently contemplating his offer.

Paige had moved at little closer to the two to better understand them, but noticed out of the corner of her eyes that her adult nephew had stood up from the ground again. When she turned around to him, she could see that the expression of disgust and shame had vanished from his face. He was now regarding his younger self with a look that still conveyed mixed emotions, but with determination and pride clearly being among them.

She had no time to interpret his expression any further, though, as the younger Chris now finally answered his brother.

“You think _this_ is the right thing to do?” His voice sounded sad as he gestured towards the half dead demons lying on the ground. “You think it was right to let Aunt Paige die, just because she couldn’t teach you anything else about magic? Maybe it’s true that I really still need to learn to make my own decisions, but I’m afraid that my idea of what’s ‘right’ will never match yours.”

Chris turned his head slightly, effectively breaking eye contact with his brother, as he looked back at the tunnel through which he had entered not too long ago. However, Wyatt’s reply got his attention back quickly.

“You should think about this very carefully,” the blonde teenager pointed out. It sounded more like a threat than an advice, but Chris didn’t seem to be intimidated.

“I already did. And now go on and let the demons die! The magical barriers around here will only collapse when they’re all dead and I want to take Aunt Paige home.”

Wyatt kept staring at his younger brother for another long moment, but ultimately nodded. In that very instant, the disfigured bodies of the demons around them burst into flames and were soon completely gone.

Chris simply nodded in return before he said goodbye.

“Take care, Wyatt.” 

The two boys held eye contact for a few more seconds until Chris finally disappeared in a whirl of white and blue orbs through the ceiling. Wyatt followed him with his eyes as far as possible and his voice was the last thing Paige and her adult nephew heard, before the world around them vanished in a bright white light yet again.

“Believe me, this is not the end, Chris!”

**To be continued…**


	20. The Council of Elders

The first harbingers of a desert storm were lashing across the dunes, pulling along billions of sand grains for miles on end, almost completely unobstructed. Not even the jagged rock formations that occasionally stuck out of the ground, and under which a vast system of caves was hidden, were spared by it, howling under nature’s onslaught.

Given the ever growing force of the storm, a mortal observer would have had trouble explaining how an entire city could lie right in the middle of it, without there being even the slightest breeze inside its streets and alleys. And yet, the towers of Zanbar were undisturbed by the powerful winds blowing around them. Said observer might have also been baffled by the phenomenon that the sand seemed to be held back by an invisible barrier surrounding the city, but the person who now literally appeared out of the sky was no mortal.

It was a whitelighter who materialised in a whirl of glowing sparks and, after a short moment of bracing himself against the storm, stared at the white and golden towers in front of him in fascination.

This had to be it, the source of the awakened magic they had sensed. He had found it.

“I guess this wasn’t here two hours ago,” he muttered quietly to himself as he slowly walked closer towards the city.

So far his mission had been going without problems. He had simply been relying on his sense of magic while orbing and the incredible power that was emitting from this place had made sure that he didn’t even have a chance of missing his target. Even the sandstorm, that was making his eyes burn and heavily restricted his range of vision, proved to be useful, as it showed him the boundaries of the force field that was encircling the city. It had to be expected that something this powerful would be protected and now he was avoiding the danger of touching the barrier by accident.

The blond whitelighter extended his hands as far as a few inches towards the barrier, to feel how strong it was, but flinched back half-way as he was already hit by an energy spark. He had died only a few years ago and become a whitelighter and had not yet discarded most of his human behaviour, so he cursed under his breath as he examined the burned spot on his hand. He felt pain, something he hadn’t even thought was possible anymore, but apparently this kind of magic was able to injure even him.

With a last look at the city he finally decided to return to the Elders. He had found what he had been searching for and didn’t see any way to move forward from here, so his mission was done. However, just as he was about to orb, he suddenly sensed a new source of power, as strong as the city itself, but more concentrated, closer, that was piercing through his entire being and made it impossible for him to use his abilities.

“I don’t think I granted any of your kind permission to be here,” a voice behind him now pointed out. It seemed to belong to a woman, but it certainly wasn’t human. Actually, it wasn’t comparable to anything the young man had ever heard before. He wanted to turn around and look at the person behind him, but his legs didn’t respond. He was frozen to the spot and only now did he realise that the sandstorm around him had ceased. Apparently, she, whoever she was, had created a force field around the two of them as well.

“This is my city that you wanted to spy out. Did you really think I was just going to let you snoop around here?” The woman remained silent for a moment and the whitelighter could almost feel her gaze drilling into his head. “Look at me!”

Only now, that she commanded him to, could he move his legs again and turn around to finally see who he was dealing with. The demon Jinny was still angry after her failed attempt to kill the Halliwells, their child and their whitelighter, and even though this whitelighter knew neither her name nor anything else about her, he could feel the anger and power emitting from the black clad woman all too clearly.

And he felt fear. Another feeling that he hadn’t known in this form in years and had hoped never to have to experience again.

“They’ve sent you, haven’t they? The oh-so-wise Elders. Too scared to come down here to earth themselves, so instead they send someone like you. Cannon fodder. That’s all you are to them. You get send out into a world full of dangers, so they don’t have to take care of anything on their own. No, they much rather sit in their little council and talk, while in reality they’re just hiding.” Jinny fell silent for a moment and moved closer to the whitelighter. As she was standing right in front of him, she lifted a hand up to his cheek in an almost loving gesture.

“I could use you to send them a message,” she mused quietly. “Something they wouldn’t forget anytime soon.”

As his body was still paralysed by her magic, the whitelighter couldn’t turn his head away from the demon’s touch. Not even when there were suddenly small bolts of energy coming out of her fingertips, leaving burned marks on his skin.

She laughed as he winced in pain, before stepping even closer to him so their faces were only inches apart.

“I could mangle you so badly your own mother wouldn’t recognise you.” She interrupted herself for a moment, thinking, then continued. “Assuming she’s still alive, of course, but you know what I mean.”

Jinny’s voice was nothing more than a whisper and her hand, which was still lying on his cheek, traced across his burned skin lightly as a feather, while her lips moved closer to his almost in slow motion. The whitelighter was still paralysed, he couldn’t back away, and so he didn’t have a choice, but to allow the demon to finally kiss him.

Jinny’s lips were surprisingly soft and gentle, but at the same time seemed to tingle with energy as she deepened the kiss. She was obviously savouring the situation immensely; if it was actually because of the kiss or because she had forced him into it, he didn’t know, but she sighed quietly as she ultimately pulled away from him, a tender smile on her lips.

“Yes, I could torture you and then send you back to your people. I am sure they would never forget that message again.” The demon took a step back and scrutinised the whitelighter for a moment, the smile disappearing from her face without warning and a completely indifferent expression appearing in its stead.

“Or not.” With these words, she put the palms of her hands together, fixated him with her eyes and pulled her hands apart again, causing the whitelighter to dissolve into a mist of white sparks that slowly went out and then vanished completely.

Jinny looked at the now deserted spot for another few seconds, then stepped through the force field surrounding Zanbar and let the desert sand erase all traces of anybody ever being there. As she entered the city, she traced her tongue across her lips absentmindedly; they still tasted of him...

 

* * *

 

The bright friendly light and the pure white of her surroundings seemed a lot more surreal to Piper than usual after the chaos of the past hours and she actually needed a moment to adjust to it after she had arrived with Gideon in the sphere of the Elders. She quickly realised, however, that the usually so peaceful place was in some kind of uproar; at least going by the Elders’ standards.

There were small groups of men and women dressed in golden robes gathered around the area, talking anxiously, but they slowly fell silent one by one as they noticed the two new arrivals. Piper and Gideon were met with countless curious and astonished glances, but before anyone had the chance to talk to them, the headmaster of Magic School stepped forward. He raised his voice so everyone could hear him.

“I bring urgent news about disturbing events on earth and request an immediate gathering of the Council. I’m afraid this matter admits no delay.”

A young looking Elder – Roland, if Piper remembered his name correctly – broke away from the group he had been standing with and approached Gideon, his expression tense. Before addressing his fellow Elder, though, his gaze wandered over to Piper for a moment.

Given her prior experiences with the Council, the witch already expected a not-so-subtle hint about her presence up here not being permitted, but to her great astonishment, Roland merely nodded to her politely and then turned back to Gideon. Piper could only assume that the Elders had already realised the gravity of the situation, if they had actually stopped caring about their hallowed protocols for the moment.

“Does your information concern the magical tremor that has occurred on earth recently?” the man in the golden robe asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

“It could even be detected up here?” Gideon’s voice was sharp, and just like earlier in Magic School, Piper could tell that his composure was wavering. It seemed as if the Elder’s worst fears were coming true.

“Yes. We all felt the awakening of a strong, ancient magic, but we could not tell what exactly had happened from this sphere. Leo insisted that we had to investigate the matter, and so we decided – although with some uneasiness, I might add – to send a whitelighter to earth; but we haven’t heard from him since.”

Piper could tell by the Elder’s expression that he was honestly concerned about their scout, but even though she would have liked to, she wasn’t able to give him much hope, considering the situation.

“I’m afraid you probably shouldn’t have sent him. If your whitelighter really did find Zanbar, he is most likely already dead.”

“ _Zanbar_?” Roland repeated the word slowly and reverently as he looked from the witch to the headmaster of Magic School and back again. “What we felt was the resurrection of Zanbar?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it was indeed,” Gideon confirmed with a small nod.

At this point, Roland’s feature’s hardened, but Piper thought she had spotted something akin to fear in the man’s eyes.

“In that case, you are right, Gideon, there really is no time to waste here. I will gather the Council immediately,” the Elder promised, before he turned around and vanished once more between the other hooded figures.

It didn’t take long until all the Elders began to head towards their usual meeting place. Piper was trying to make out her former husband in the crowd, when Gideon suddenly laid a hand on her shoulder and led the witch a small distance away from the others. He kept his voice low and looked directly into Piper’s eyes as he began to speak.

“I know I don’t have to explain the gravity of the situation to you anymore, Piper. Very soon the Council will know it, too, and I want you to be prepared for their decision, whatever it might be.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Piper asked, a deep frown creasing her forehead. She had no idea what the Elder was getting at, but she could tell it was nothing good.

Gideon let out a soft sigh before he replied.

“Well, what I’m trying to say is that the destruction of Zanbar will be the highest priority for the Elders. Of course we will try everything in our power to save Phoebe, and not just because the Power of Three cannot exist without her. However, you should know that defeating Jinny will take precedence for the Council under any circumstances.”

Piper took a step back from the Elder, anger rising to her head. Here she had actually thought that she could count on the most powerful paragons of light magic just _once_ , but obviously that had been nothing but wishful thinking.

“Oh, I get it. You mean I should already prepare myself to lose yet another sister. Well, thanks for the heads-up!” the witch replied in a sharp tone. She wasn’t quite sure what answer she had expected to receive from Gideon in return, but Piper was certainly taken off guard, when the Elder now crossed the small distance between them and grabbed her arm forcefully.

 “No! I just want you to realise how absolutely vital it is to annihilate Zanbar,” he explained before hesitating a second. As the Elder continued, both his tone and his expression softened again noticeably and he also loosened his hold on Piper’s arm a bit. “Or at least to sink it again in the desert. You obviously have no idea about the power this city encompasses. To leave it in the hands of a demon would certainly mean the end of the world as you know it. That is simply not an option and whatever the Council might decide, whatever sacrifice it takes, it will be worth it. Such a power cannot be allowed to exist on earth and especially not in the hands of evil.”

Piper felt like paralysed as she returned Gideon’s intense stare, but before the Elder could go on, Leo, who had just emerged from one of the groups of cloaked figures, interrupted him. Behind him, the last stragglers were just walking off into the direction of the assembly hall.

“Gideon!”

The Elder in question flinched, let go of Piper’s arm and stepped further away from the witch while looking at her apologetically.

“Forgive me, I should not have spoken to you like that. It appears that today I always tend to – what's the term – overshoot the mark.” He looked briefly from Piper to Leo and then in the direction where the other Elders had just disappeared. “I will go on and join the others, but please be quick. Time is of the essence right now.” He nodded to both of them, then turned and left towards the assembly hall.

Leo looked after him thoughtfully, until he turned back to Piper.

“What happened, did you two have an argument? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gideon this upset.”

Piper shook her head and made a dismissive gesture.

“No, don’t worry about it. He just seemed to be under the impression that I’m not taking the threat of Zanbar seriously enough and tried to... make it clear to me.”

Leo’s expression darkened at her words.

“So it is true. I heard the other Elders talk in passing, but thought – _hoped_ – that I had misheard. So a demon has discovered it and is now in control of the city?”

“Yes.”

At this reply, Leo sighed and ran a hand across his face, his mood visibly darkening even further.

“And I was the one who insisted that we had to investigate the tremor we felt. I wanted to go myself, but the Council decided to send a whitelighter instead. They said it would be too dangerous for an Elder to leave this place and now he is most likely dead.”

Piper took hold of Leo’s hands and squeezed them lightly, hoping to convey at least some comfort.

“You had no way of knowing. This isn’t your fault.”

“The one we send was a good friend of mine. I am an Elder, I have greater powers than him; I could probably have escaped,” Leo protested, but Piper shook her head adamantly.

“Or you could be dead in his stead now. Leo, you have people who count on you, and I don’t mean as an Elder. I need you, your... family needs you. You can’t just die, okay?”

For a long moment Leo merely looked at Piper, and the witch could actually see the sadness and self-doubt in his expression make way for something at least close to a smile. She could feel the still strong bond between them that had never wavered, despite the months they had been separated now. When the Elder pulled her into his arms, she didn’t hesitate a second to return the embrace, smiling as well.

“You are right. I would never want to abandon you and I don’t want Wyatt to have to grow up without a father, either,” Leo admitted.

“Or Chris,” Piper replied in a soft whisper. She had her head rested against Leo’s chest, however, so the Elder hadn’t understood her words and now looked at her questioningly.

“What?”

The witch hesitated. She wanted so much to tell Leo the truth. To tell him that the young whitelighter, who had been right under their noses all these months and who had had to endure so much distrust from them all was really their own son. But she had promised Chris not to. Plus, Piper was well aware that this wasn’t exactly the best time to tell Leo about their newest addition to the family anyway.

So in the end she merely shook her head and slowly freed herself from Leo’s embrace.

“Nothing. Listen, as much as I’d love to stay right here, I think we should really go to the other Elders now. They’re waiting for us.”

Leo kept his eyes on Piper for another seemingly endless moment, almost as if he was trying to memorise every detail of her appearance before he finally nodded. Then he took her hand and together they went to the assembly hall to see the already waiting Council of Elders.

 

* * *

 

“You never should have given that demon back her freedom. With that you put us all in danger.” One of the Elders had risen from his seat and was fixating Piper with an angry glare while there was a soft murmur of approval coming from several of his colleagues. The witch rolled her eyes in annoyance before she reacted to his accusation.

“As I already said, we neither knew that Jinny was a threat, nor that Phoebe would take her place once she had wished her free. The demon Bosk had been about to get a hold of the bottle and in that situation my sister only did what she thought was necessary.”

Now another Elder from one of the back rows spoke up, but his argument found even less of Piper’s approval.

“In that case your whitelighter did not inform you adequately. When a demon is banned into a bottle, a warning for that can usually be found on it; he was clearly being negligent in his duties if he overlooked it.” Had the Elder known about the young man’s true identity, he might have thought twice about speaking like that in front of his mother.

“Chris did nothing to cause this situation, so don’t try to blame him. Blame me, if you really need a scapegoat. After all, I knew that you weren’t allowed to wish for anything from a genie, _ever_ , but I wasn’t able to stop Phoebe from doing just that. It... it was an accident, I... Phoebe thought she was doing the right thing and everyone can make a mistake once, right? I know she regretted it, a lot.”

The witch finally interrupted herself as she realised how upset she was becoming. Her eyes fell on Leo, who was sitting in the front row and who looked at her slightly startled, but also sympathetically. Piper knew that he didn’t have a clue as to what she was actually talking about and had to be wondering why she was defending Chris so vehemently. Once again she wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, but she had made a promise to her son and at least for now she was going to keep it. They were having other problems right now, after all, as Gideon reminded her when he suddenly stood up and began to speak.

“We should not be wasting our time with recriminations, but instead focus on taking measures to assure Zanbar’s destruction once and for all. Of course, we could merely bury the city again, but as we can see now, that does not eliminate the problem. I think we should rather try to find a more final solution this time.”

The other Elders nodded in agreement, but before anyone could make a suggestion, Piper turned to Gideon, a puzzled look on her face.

“That’s something I’m not quite clear about yet. How exactly did you manage to sink an entire city in the desert in the first place? And why has no one ever tried to recover it until today?”

“It was an extraordinary effort under extraordinary circumstances.”

Surprised, Piper turned around when another Elder suddenly rose from his seat and approached her through the crowd. With his short hair, the white beard and his robes he was looking like the Elder version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even if Piper usually didn’t trust these highest representatives of good, she somehow instantly liked this one.

“My name is Gabriel. If you want me to, I can show you what happened back then, even though I’m not so sure we could even repeat it.”

Piper looked at him rather sceptically, but after a short glance at Leo, who nodded at her encouragingly, she finally agreed.

“All right, what do I have to do?”

The Elder smiled, stepped directly in front of Piper and gently laid the palms of his hands against her temples.

“Not much. Just close your eyes.”

The witch followed his instruction, but the next second she ripped her eyes wide open again, as she could tell that her surroundings had changed drastically.

It was still very bright around her, but this time the light came from the sun itself, which was burning down on them mercilessly from a clear blue sky. To Piper’s surprise they were in the middle of the desert and except from Gabriel, who was standing beside her, she couldn’t make out any signs of life around them. There wasn’t even a trace of a city anywhere, causing her to doubt that they were actually in the right spot.

“The nexus that is the source of Zanbar’s power has existed since ancient times, practically ever since there were humans and thus magic. For millennia it lay hidden beneath the hostile desert sand so no one who could have felt its power came near it. Until today.”

Astonished, Piper followed Gabriel’s gaze until she finally noticed the figure that now appeared behind a dune in the distance.

It was a man wrapped in black, oriental robes, whom Piper almost confused for a human at first glance. However, after all these years she had developed a keen eye for the supernatural and in this case almost everything about the figure seemed to practically scream ‘demon’.

She watched as the dark clad man moved forward quickly and purposefully, the heat and the difficult terrain not slowing him down in the slightest.

 “This demon – like most of them – strives after only one thing: power,” the Elder explained in a calm voice. “But unlike the majority of his kind, this one is actually going to be successful.”

Piper listened to Gabriel’s words carefully, while she was watching the demon, who had by now arrived a short distance below the dune on which she and her companion were standing. She could see him extend his arms in front of him and begin reciting a text in some foreign language, the palms of his hands directed at the ground beneath him.

“You mean he finds the nexus and uses its energy?”

The Elder kept his eyes on the demon as he answered.

“See for yourself!”

It was only a second later, when the sand on the spot where the demon had held his ritual started to flow apart, forming a circular wall with a crater in the middle. This took only a few moments until suddenly, with a ferocity that made the ground underneath them quake, bolts of pure energy shot from the crater and into the sky above. Piper didn’t have long to watch the spectacle, though, as the landscape around them changed again the very next moment.

Instead of sand, there was the finest marble underneath her feet now and around her there were white-golden towers reaching into the sky. Zanbar stretched out in front of them in all its glory, but even though it was beautiful to look at, Piper was almost overwhelmed by the crushing presence of evil.

“He absorbed the power of the nexus and had this city build on top of it. It’s according to the local style, but I’m sure you’re not letting yourself be fooled by its pretty exterior. This is a place of evil and the demon we just saw has become its Source.” Gabriel stopped briefly to take in the city’s impressions, but continued after a few moments.

“The powers of good in this world have suffered a terrible blow and have been severely pushed back. There were wars, famines and pestilence in many places and even though magic was still a common part of the world, we barely managed to do anything against it. Centuries should pass until the balance was finally restored.”

Before Piper had a chance to ask how exactly that had been accomplished, however, she found herself in an entirely different place once again.

This time she needed a moment to see anything again, as they were inside a vast cave and the lighting conditions were anything but ideal. Ultimately she was able to make out a man and a woman in simple black clothes, who were obviously waiting for something.

“Are those demons?” Piper glanced from the two figures to the Elder beside her, but he just shook his head in response.

“No, they are Avatars.” Seeing Piper’s puzzled look, he hurried to explain. “They are a neutral power that usually doesn’t interfere in the conflict between good and evil. While they do want there to be peace on earth, their methods and beliefs are simply not compatible with ours. At the time, however, we didn’t have any other option, but to form a temporary alliance with them.”

As soon as he had said those words, not too far from them an Elder materialised, clad in the usual golden robes of his profession. His face was covered by a hood at first, but when he finally removed it, Piper’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“That... that’s you!” she pointed out rather needlessly.

Gabriel nodded, while he watched his past self walking over to the two Avatars.

“Yes, back then the Council of Elders had assigned me to initiate contact with our new allies. Because, as much as I regret to admit it, the powers of good weren’t nearly strong enough to deal with the Source on their own.”

“I’m glad that you have followed our invitation and are willing to listen to the proposal I’m here to submit to you.” The Elder stepped forward and greeted the two Avatars with a handshake, obviously startling them a little, but the black clad woman showed no sign of that when she replied.

“As you have noted so accurately during our last meeting, the balance between the forces of good and evil on earth has been completely shifted. However, if you are now seeking our help to tip the scales in your favour, we will have to disappoint you, as we see no benefit in eliminating the dominance of one side just to promote the other. For that undertaking you cannot expect any support from us.” The female Avatar was eying the Elder with an aloof expression that made it all too clear that she thought this conversation to be over, but Gabriel simply indicated a small bow before he replied in a placating tone.

“Nobody expects you to go against your own convictions. This isn’t about a shift of power, but about evening the chances. Plus, the nexus in Zanbar’s centre has been a tool for evil for so long now that we could never use it for our own purposes, even if we wanted to. No, what we want is to destroy it. Or, if that’s not feasible, at least erase Zanbar from the surface of the earth forever.”

Now the male Avatar spoke up for the first time.

“I am not sure if even our combined powers would be up to that task. You know just as well as we do how incredibly powerful the Source is. He will thwart each of our attacks before we even have a chance to do any real damage.”

Gabriel nodded in agreement. It seemed as if he had already been waiting for this argument.

“The Council of Elders came to the same conclusion, which is why we have asked another party to join this meeting.” He looked into one of the corners of the cave now where suddenly a man appeared who had obviously been cloaked so far.

His clothes made of fur and leather and his generally scruffy appearance were in striking contrast to the almost glowing Elder and the rather strict looking Avatars. The latter two seemed to be taken completely off guard by the man’s appearance, as the woman turned to Gabriel angrily.

“What is this? We have not agreed to meet here with a demon and least of all with _him_.”

Said demon grinned deviously as he approached the three.

“As always it is a pleasure meeting someone of your small group, Beta. Who would have thought that after our last, rather unpleasant encounter, we would be meeting again as allies?” He probably wanted to say more, but was cut off by Gabriel rather abruptly.

“That is enough, Zankou! We are not here to make friends, but to finally eliminate a threat that concerns each and every one of us.”

At this point the female Avatar spoke up again in a mocking tone.

“And why exactly is a demon here, then? After all, he’s on the same side as the Source, isn’t he?”

Zankou’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the accusation and his voice was tense as he replied.

“Let’s just say, we’ve never exactly been friends and I am only alive today because I bowed down to him. But that is over now! Soon we will be equals again and then we will see who is going to rule the underworld in the future.”

Before Beta could answer back, Gabriel interrupted the argument, a hint of frustration slipping into his voice. Piper could imagine all too well that he probably hadn’t expected to have to function as a mediator between the other two parties.

“Whatever kind of power struggles might start in regard to the underworld after the destruction of Zanbar is of no importance to us now, so I suggest we concentrate on the essentials again. That also means that we must find a way to make sure that in case we do not manage to destroy the nexus, evil won’t be able to make use of it again.” He looked around challengingly until Zankou was the first to make a suggestion.

“A banning spell.”

In return he received a disbelieving noise from the female Avatar, causing the demon to aim his explanations directly at her.

“I’ll admit that the idea of possessing this power for myself does have its appeal, but on my own I don’t even stand a chance against the Source, I know that. That is why I’ll adhere to the terms we will set here. And in my opinion, a banning spell that’s fuelled by our combined powers would be the easiest and best method to keep every agent of evil, including myself, away from the nexus forever.”

Before his female companion had the chance to talk again, and say something that could potentially lead to a real confrontation, the Avatar leader spoke up instead.

“It's a good suggestion that seems worth pursuing. Beyond that, however, I think we should also take the opportunity and erase the knowledge of both Zanbar and magic as a whole from the history of mankind. Whenever there is a conflict between our factions, it is fought out at humanity’s expense; we should finally put an end to that.”

“You mean we should go into hiding?” Zankou asked, his voice filled with disgust at the prospect. He turned to the Elder, apparently looking for help. “That can’t be what you and your people want, right?”

Gabriel seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, pondering the alternatives carefully.

“Maybe it really is about time for the humans to go their own way. If we all, and by that I mean every magical being, disappear and are no longer a part of their world, it will probably only take a few generations until sorcery and magic turn into myths and legends. Besides, I fear that our constant battles in the past have been causing them much more harm than good.”

He ran a hand through his beard thoughtfully, before he continued, this time in a final manner.

“I will have to speak to the Council of Elders about this, but I think that this decision would lead us in the right direction. We should meet here again tomorrow at the same time and until then I would like you to at least consider it, Zankou!” At this point he extended his hand to the demon which the other took after only a short moment of hesitation.

“Fine, I will. Who knows, maybe a little restraint would even do us demons good. Just because we wouldn’t be using magic out in the open anymore, doesn’t mean we would have to retreat from the human world entirely.” He grinned at this point one last time before he nodded to the other three in a parting gesture and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

“Do you really think you can trust him? He is a demon.” The female Avatar had her hands clasped behind her back and looked at the Elder, one eyebrow raised sceptically.

“No, of course not,” Gabriel replied with a shake of his head, “but we won’t be making our agreement to hide magic on a voluntary basis, either. As soon as Zankou agrees and the necessary measures have been taken, there will be no going back. For none of us.” 

**To be continued…**


	21. Life Lessons

After they had spent so much time in the underworld, Paige was actually surprised as she and Chris reappeared in an ordinary apartment corridor. The walls that must once have been painted in a soft brown colour had faded a long time ago and wood was splintering off several of the door frames, only adding to the run-down appearance of the building.

The hum of the elevator filled the air for a few seconds, but stopped as the metal doors slid open and revealed Chris’ past self.

Paige quickly noticed that he wasn’t much younger than the Chris she knew now, meaning they had skipped a large portion of her nephew’s life. Just like in the last memory, he wasn’t alone, however, and his aunt was briefly startled as she recognised the young woman at Chris’ side who now stepped out into the hallway with him.

“Bianca!” she uttered in surprise and glanced over at the older Chris, who was watching his memory with an entranced look in his eyes.

“Yes,” the young man merely confirmed with an absentminded nod and for the first time since they had started their trip into his past, there was a sincere smile on his face.

As Paige compared the two versions of her nephew, she realised that the expression on both of their faces was almost identical. Chris was in love with the witch, then and now.

“Where are we here?” she finally asked, but it was the conversation that played out in front of them just a second later, that answered her question.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Bianca asked as she and Chris kept walking down the hallway. The whitelighter glanced over at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa’s gonna love you, I promise.”

The young woman smiled briefly at this, but then became serious again and shook her head.

“No, that’s not what I meant; but thanks,” she added with a soft gleaming in her eyes as she looked up at Chris. “I just mean that we kept our relationship a secret for a reason, even from your grandfather. If Wyatt finds out we’re together, he’ll know I’m helping you. He’ll be after both of us.”

Chris remained silent for a moment, a thoughtful look passing over his features before he finally answered.

“I know it’s a risk, even or maybe especially now that we’re so close to going through with our plan, but… I just need him to know, can you understand that? Grandpa’s practically been my only family for eight years now and I know he’s constantly worried about me. So in case something goes wrong—”

“Don’t say that!” Bianca interrupted him, but Chris continued.

“Just _in case_ something goes wrong or I don’t make it back I need him to know that right here, right now I’m happy. And that you’re the reason why.”

“You truly loved her, didn’t you?” Paige asked quietly as she watched her nephew’s past self kiss his girlfriend gently. However, Chris didn’t answer her immediately.

He was having the weirdest sensation. He looked at Bianca and he remembered how strong his feelings for her had been. And he remembered _her_. Everything about her.

How they had met and fallen in love, how they had come up with the plan for him to go back in time and stop Wyatt and also how she had betrayed him. But he also remembered how she had changed her mind, protected him from Wyatt and paid for it with her life. She had died to save him, to make sure he finished his mission and at this point Chris gasped slightly as everything came rushing back to him.

His arrival in the past, his first meeting with the sisters and Leo and how painful it had been to be so close to them, and yet a stranger in their eyes. How he had hated to keep up the pretence of not knowing them and how relieved he had been when Piper had forced him to reveal the truth.

Sure, he knew him revealing himself could still mess up the future, but he would pass that bridge if he ever came to it.

“Chris?” Paige’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Pulling himself together, the young whitelighter turned towards his aunt, positively choked up.

“Yes. Yes, I did love her. I remember that now, just like everything else.”

“‘Everything’, you sure about that?” Paige asked warily, clearly not wanting to get her hopes up too soon.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Chris replied with a small nod, smiling in relief. Despite all the pain and loss he had suffered in his life, all those memories were a part of him, just like the countless good ones he had, and he wouldn’t give them up again for anything.

“Well, about damn time!” Paige was smiling now, too, as she pulled her nephew into a brief hug.

The two of them were so distracted for the moment that they didn’t even notice the memory version of Chris stopping in front of one of the doors in the corridor and knocking. Only when a twenty years older Victor Bennet suddenly open up and greeted his visitors, did Paige and Chris focus back on the scene in front of them again.

“Chris! What a wonderful surprise to see you,” Victor exclaimed, a wide smile lighting up his features. “And who is your lovely companion here?”

Past Chris promptly introduced Bianca to his grandfather, obviously a little embarrassed by the older man’s exuberance, but nevertheless smiling as the three of them entered the small apartment.

Paige had let go of her nephew by now and the two followed the group inside, knowing they wouldn’t have a choice anyway. Inside, Victor let them into the kitchen and started to put water on the stove for tea, while his grandson passed the time by filling him in on some of his recent activities. Only when all three of them had sat down at the table did he start to tell his grandfather about why they had really come to see him. About the trip to the past to change history itself.

Victor’s expression became increasingly worried and disbelieving with each word out of the whitelighter’s mouth until he just stared at his grandson in silence even after he had finished his explanation.

Chris hesitated a second and threw an uncertain glance at Bianca, but finally continued as she nodded at him encouragingly.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but we’re going to go through with this. There is no way we’ll ever be able to beat Wyatt here in this time, so changing the past to keep him from becoming evil in the first place is pretty much our only option. And who knows how much will be changed by saving Wyatt. It could alter the whole world and prevent countless people from dying.”

“You mean… maybe the girls and… everyone?” Victor asked tentatively. It seemed as if he barely even dared to hope for a world where his daughters and their families could still be alive.

“I honestly don’t know,” Chris sighed, shaking his head, “but this is bigger than just our family. Wyatt is a threat to the entire world and he needs to be stopped. But despite everything, he’s still my brother, so – if possible – I want to do that by saving him.”

Victor studied his nephew quietly for a moment until a fond smile spread on his lips.

“You really do come after your parents, did I ever tell you that?”

“You mean after mum, right?”Chris asked, obviously not liking the idea of being compared to Leo.

“No, I mean after both of them,” Victor corrected him. “Your father might have changed a lot since I first met him, and not exactly for the better, but he was a good man once. Do you think I would have let him marry my daughter otherwise?”

At this point, Bianca suddenly excused herself, asking for the bathroom. She seemed to be slightly uncomfortable, as if she was worried about intruding on a private conversation between Chris and his grandfather.

Victor pointed her in the right direction and Chris watched his girlfriend leave the room, an almost eager expression on his face. As soon as he heard the bathroom door close behind the young woman, he lowered his voice and started talking more excitedly.

“While we’re on the subject, there is actually something else I had wanted to talk to you about. I got this for Bianca.” He pulled something out of his pocket and then held his hand out to his grandfather. As his fingers opened, they revealed a plain but beautiful engagement ring, causing Victor to gasp in surprise.

“Chris, that is a very big decision you’re holding there.”

“I know,” the young whitelighter answered earnestly.

“So you’re sure about it?”

“Absolutely,” Chris replied with a smile. “I’m going to the past so I can have a future here and I can’t even imagine Bianca not being a part of it.”

Victor was practically beaming with joy as he heard his grandson’s determination. A second later he leaned over to pull the young man into a hug.

“Then congratulation and I wish you both the best of luck.”

“Well, she’s got to say ‘yes’ first,” Chris tried to placate him, but his grandfather didn’t seem too worried about that.

“Oh, she will, I’m sure. She loves you dearly, that much is obvious.” He smiled proudly at Chris and clasped his shoulder in a fatherly manner.

The emotional moment was interrupted, however, when Victor suddenly started coughing violently. When it didn’t subside after a few moments, Chris got up, filled a glass with water from the tap and handed it to his grandfather, concern darkening his features.

After he drank the water, Victor recovered somewhat, but he still looked weary as he nodded in gratitude to his grandson.

“Thank you, that helped.”

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” Chris asked hesitantly, obviously dreading the answer.

“With cancer at this stage, it’s not going to get any better, Chris,” Victor pointed out in a gentle tone. “And before you ask again, no, I still do not want you to talk to Leo about this. This is not something a demon or some spell caused; I’ve been a smoker for most of my adult life, so it’s not really in the area of responsibility of a whitelighter or Elder to cure me.” Noticing Bianca, who was just coming back into the room, Victor straightened himself, stood up and headed towards the kitchen shelf where he stored a few bottles of liquor, a smile on his face once more.

“But now, let’s not spoil this moment with such serious talk. It’s not that often that I get a visit from my favourite grandson and his beautiful girlfriend, so we should celebrate this properly. And I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” he finished in a jovial tone as he retrieved three glasses from a cabinet and put them on the table.

However, Paige and Chris didn’t get to see anything else of the conversation, as another white flash of light let the world around them disappear once more.

 

* * *

 

As Chris tried to open his eyes again, he was immediately greeted with a splitting headache, causing him to squeeze them shut tightly and let out a soft groan. It took him a few seconds to start another attempt, but this time his surroundings became clear and to his immense relief he recognised the ceiling ornaments of Magic School above him.

They were back in the empty class room, meaning it was finally over and he and Paige were back in the here and now.

Paige! Chris looked around the room in search of his aunt until he finally found her on the ground behind the teacher’s desk. She, too, was just about to get up while holding her head with a moan; apparently she could more than relate to his headache right now. The young whitelighter jumped up from his seat to help her up as his eyes fell on the clock on the wall. It seemed as if reliving all of these memories had only cost them a few minutes in the real world, even though it had felt more like hours to Chris.

“Are you okay?”

Paige was looking slightly worse for wear, but nodded absentmindedly while she, just like Chris before, looked around their surroundings in surprise.

“Yes, don’t worry, I’m alright. But are we really back? Are you sure this isn’t just another memory?” The witch glanced at her nephew sceptically before letting her eyes wander around the class room they had retreated to once more.

Chris was sure that this was reality and no mere memory, but to convince his aunt he slowly placed his hand on the desk next to him. At least inwardly he had to admit that he, too, was relieved when he felt the surface of the wooden table against his skin.

“Well, my hand doesn’t go through objects anymore, plus I have a splitting headache. I don’t think it gets more real than this.”

The young whitelighter paused briefly as he thought once more about the events of the past few, as it turned out, minutes and tried to figure out how – or _if_ – this was changing things for him.

Originally he had thought that he would actually have to relive his regained memories and that they would once more have an impact on him. However, during each new part of his life that he and Paige had witnessed, for him it had really just been what it was; a memory. Something that had happened a long time ago and even though he obviously hadn’t wanted to watch his family die once more, the pain hadn’t been the same as at the time. In contrast to Paige, he had had years to deal with their deaths, and that was the reason why his concern for his aunt intensified again as he focused back on her.

“Are you sure you’re alright? I mean, you’d have every reason not to be. After everything you’ve seen from my past.”

“As I said, I’m fine,” Paige replied, nodding curtly. However, the confident look on her face wavered as she started avoiding her nephew’s gaze. “I mean, yeah… I guess I wasn’t really all that prepared to see some of the stuff you’ve lived through… and I’m not so sure if I’ll ever get rid of the images, but… I’ll be alright, I promise!”

Chris knew that whether or not Paige would eventually be alright again, she definitely wasn’t right now. Before he could come up with a way to help her, though, she already continued, acting as if it were completely ridiculous that the events she had witnessed were still haunting her.

“After all, it’s not like any of that even happened yet and if we save Wyatt it might never happen at all, so… once I get the images of my sisters, Richard, my as-yet-unborn kids and even myself dying out of my head, I’ll be just peachy.”

Paige let out a half-hearted chuckle at this point while wiping away a few tears that were running down her cheeks, belying her optimistic words.

Chris was filled with sympathy and regret as he watched his aunt struggle with the knowledge of the future. A knowledge that had never been meant for her in the first place. It had been his memories that were hurting her now and those had been meant for him and for no-one else. It didn’t matter that it had been the Book of Shadows itself that had shown them the mind link spell; Chris couldn’t help but feel responsible for Paige’s pain. He knew he never should have agreed to any of this.

The young man sighed softly before once again crossing the short distance between him and his aunt and pulling her into a gentle embrace. They stood like this for a few moments, while Paige merely sniffled occasionally, clearly determined to keep her composure this time.

In the end it was Chris, who broke the silence, speaking in a soft tone.

“I’ve grown up learning that you can’t always save everyone, that some deaths are just meant to be, so I don’t know if my actions here in the past will actually be able to stop all those deaths in the future from happening. For what it’s worth, though, I’m really sorry you’re forced to having to deal with all this now, Paige. I hope you can forgive me for pulling you into this!”

At this point, Paige rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before breaking free from Chris’ embrace and looking at him incredulously.

“Oh, Chris, you don’t really believe that was your fault, right? I mean, you were against me casting that spell in the first place and then you tried to send me back, like, how many times? Twice? You’re not to blame for me having inherited the Halliwell’s stubbornness.”

Chris had to smile at his aunt’s outburst involuntarily, but couldn’t quite bring himself to believe her. Not yet, anyway.

Paige must have seen her nephew’s hesitation reflected in his features, as she continued emphatically.

“And while we’re at it, let me spell this out for you one more time: For _none_ of the things I’ve seen today were _you_ at fault. Neither for Piper’s death, nor for mine and most definitely not for the decisions of your brother. You are here in this time, because despite everything that happened and what he did, you still believe in Wyatt and want to save him and that is more than anybody could ever have asked of you.”

Chris felt tears rushing to his eyes at Paige’s heartfelt lecture. He blinked a few times to get rid of them, then took a deep breath to compose himself before nodding briefly. He wanted to believe his aunt so badly; he really did.

“I know. I know she didn’t die because of me, and neither did you, but—”

“No ‘but’, Chris!” Paige insisted firmly. “Trust me, in this case there is no ‘but’.”

 _It wasn’t his fault._ Could it really be that simple? He had heard that line so many times before, from his uncle, his cousins, his grandfather, and each and every time he had nodded and agreed without actually believing it once. Just a meaningless phrase he had learned to recite to soften the worried look in the other person’s eyes.

As he looked at Paige now, though, he couldn’t make out any worry or concern in her eyes. Instead, his aunt glared back at him with anger and frustration radiating from her, as if he was somehow too dense to understand even the simplest of concepts.

_It wasn’t his fault._

Maybe this time was different. Maybe it really was that simple.

Chris nodded once again.

“Okay, no ‘but’,” he finally agreed and this time it wasn’t a lie.

“Good.” Paige’s expression was still slightly wary as she studied her nephew now, but ultimately she seemed to believe his answer.

With a swift motion, she removed any leftover tears from her face, straightened herself and then carefully picked up the damaged Book of Shadows from the table next to her. As she turned to leave the room, she linked arms with Chris, pulling him along unceremoniously.

“Seeing as you’re completely yourself again now, I think it’s time we head back to the others. After all, we’ve still got a demon to kill and the world to save.”

“And that’s news how exactly?” Chris wondered, a sarcastic smile on his face.

“Oh, it’s not,” Paige conceded with a grin. “Just everything business as usual. More or less, at least,” she finished, and Chris didn’t miss the flicker of concern that passed over his aunt’s features at this point, but that was quickly replaced again by a cheerful expression.

**To be continued…**


End file.
